Migrant-extortion plot earns coyote 31 years
by Michael Kiefer - Apr. 18, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
A man who ran a west Phoenix drophouse that extorted money from undocumented immigrants and held them hostage has been sentenced to 31 years in prison in Maricopa County Superior Court.

Arturo Nevarez Ugarte was one of two "coyotes" who went on trial on charges related to the September 2007 bust of a drophouse near 94th Avenue and McDowell Road.

He was arrested after several of his victims broke free from a locked closet, beat him unconscious with a curtain rod and escaped into the neighborhood to call police. Nevarez Ugarte, 34, was convicted in March on two counts each of kidnapping, extortion and armed robbery; he was sentenced April 11.
A second defendant, Sergio Guerrero Teran went to trial in April, but it ended in a mistrial because of juror misconduct. A new trial is scheduled for August.

According to Phoenix police Detective Alfredo Richard, drophouses are usually rented properties, and the smuggling operations are run so quietly that the neighbors are not aware of any unusual activity. The house in Nevarez Ugarte's case was in a rented single-family home in a residential area.

"This kind of incident affects an entire neighborhood," Richard said. "A drophouse isn't in a vacuum. The neighbors are affected when all these people come running out. The violence associated with it - handguns, shots fired - it's a strain on everyone."

It's also a lucrative business, and the victims are treated like merchandise: The "pollos" are passed along from handler to handler, each one demanding payment of up to $2,800 per person.

Richard investigated the Nevarez Ugarte case as part of the Illegal Immigration Prevention and Apprehension Co-op Team, known as IIMPACT, a coalition that includes Phoenix police, the state Department of Public Safety, the federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Arizona Financial Crimes Task Force.

According to Richard, the victims were separated by their ability to pay and isolated if the coyotes thought they could be a threat. Those people were bound with plastic zip ties and locked in a closet. Several pulled on the bottom of the bolted closet door until it broke, then attacked Nevarez Ugarte as he sat at a table extorting money from another victim.

Several of the estimated 17 detainees scattered into the neighborhood. Authorities said one of them stopped the attack on Nevarez Ugarte so that he could be brought to justice instead of killed, then went to a neighbor's house and asked to call police.

"Pretty much everyone involved in these cases is undocumented," Phoenix police Detective Stacie Derge said. "So in the midst of all the controversy over immigration, it's important that victims and witnesses feel comfortable calling police in these situations because we need them to prosecute and go after the violent criminals."

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