Washington State Residents Charged with Smuggling 6 Mexican Migrants Across Canadian Border

Prosecutors in Montana charged two Seattle, Washington, residents with smuggling a group of Mexican migrants across the Canadian border into the U.S.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana charged Leslie Patricia Rivera, a 51-year-old Honduran migrant living in Seattle, and Miguel Angel Medina, a 61-year-old Honduran national with “possible protected status” with conspiracy to transport and transportation of illegal aliens, according to court records obtained by Breitbart Texas. Each of the six Mexican migrants allegedly paid up to $9,000 to be smuggled across the Canadian border into Montana.

Rivera told a Border Patrol agent she is a Legal Permanent Resident from Honduras and is living in Seattle, the court documents allege. She reportedly admitted to transporting the illegal aliens for compensation.

Rivera stated she was instructed to travel from Seattle to Eureka, Montana, to a location that had been entered in her cell phone. There, she was to pick up four people, the criminal complaint states. She identified her passenger, Medina, as being involved in the scheme and said she paid him $1,000 to travel with her.

The migrants told the agent they paid between $975 and $9,000 to be smuggled into the U.S. Some of the female migrants reported they only paid a partial payment and would be required to “work off” the balance.

All six of the migrants admitted to being illegally present in the United States, the complaint states.

The traffic stop and subsequent arrests took place near the Green Basin area located in West Kootenai, Montana.

In a court appearance last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen DeSoto ordered Rivera to be held for further proceedings, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported. The judge released Medina pending future proceedings.