Smuggling case nets soldier's relatives
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press Writer
Thu Aug 2, 7:27 PM ET http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070802/ap_ ... KK4GgXIr0F

The sister and brother-in-law of a Texas National Guardsman accused of smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States are the latest suspects indicted in the case, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Luisa Pacheco, 31, and her husband, Jerry Zuniga, 29, were indicted Tuesday on charges of conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants and harboring five illegal immigrants in their home in the border city of Laredo.

Pacheco's brother, Texas National Guard Sgt. Julio Cesar Pacheco, 25, and two other Guardsmen assigned to the Texas-Mexico border were arrested and later indicted for supposedly participating in the smuggling operation.

All three have pleaded not guilty and remain jailed in Laredo.

Luisa Pacheco and Zuniga were arrested at their home late Wednesday. They appeared in federal court Thursday, and a magistrate judge set bond at $75,000 for Pacheco and $100,000 for her husband.

It was not immediately clear whether the pair had lawyers.

The ring was uncovered in June when a van carrying 24 illegal immigrants was stopped along Interstate 35 about 65 miles north of Laredo. The driver, 26-year-old Pfc. Jose Rodrigo Torres, cited Pacheco, who is a decorated Iraq war veteran, and Sgt. Clarence Hodge Jr. as his cohorts.

Investigators say the immigrants were picked up at the home Luisa Pacheco shared with Zuniga, and Torres drove them, while Hodge allegedly let the van through a Border Patrol checkpoint the soldiers were assigned to monitor.

Prosecutors say Julio Pacheco, who was awarded a Purple Heart for his service in Iraq, organized the operation that smuggled 88 immigrants to Cotulla and San Antonio in the three weeks before Torres was stopped.

Torres told authorities he earned between $1,000 and $3,500 for each trip. It is unclear how much money the others are alleged to have made, or who paid them.