Burlington Free Press

New Jersey man sentenced for smuggling aliens

Published: Wednesday, September 5, 2007

BURLINGTON -- A man from Palisades Park, N.J. has been sentenced to nine months in prison for transporting illegal aliens from Quebec to Derby Line, said officials with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Seung Pyo Hong, 29, was sentenced on Aug. 30 in Vermont District Court in Burlington by U.S. District Court Judge William K. Sessions.

Hong was arrested on Nov. 21, 2006 after driving five illegal aliens from South Korea over an unguarded road from Stanstead, Quebec to Derby Line. Hong had been recruited in the New AYork City area to come to Vermont, where he met a member of a Quebec and Ontario-based group that smuggles illegal aliens from South Korea and China into the U.S.

According to court documents, Hong was given a rented van to drive to the border where he was told to meet the aliens. He had driven a block into Quebec to pick up the aliens, when he was seen driving into Vermont. He was then pursued and arrested.

Hong was indicted on Dec. 1, 2006 and pleaded guilty on April 2 to transporting aliens within the U.S., knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the aliens had entered the U.S. in violation of federal law.

Hong will be on federal supervised release for two years, said U.S. Attorney's officials.


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