An undocumented Mexican national was indicted for illegally transporting undocumented immigrants through Tennessee.
Rufino Valldovinos-Ramirez, 41, was charged with illegally transporting nine undocumented immigrants by a grand jury who maintained that he “knew and disregarded the fact that his passengers were illegally present in the United States, and then transported them in furtherance of their violation of law, for the purpose of his own financial gain.”
Valldovinos-Ramirez was also charged with illegal re-entry to the country after having been deported. If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison for each of the nine counts of illegal transportation and up to two years and/or a $250,000 fine for the illegal re-entry charge.
U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said promoting lawful immigration is a priority for his office.
“Because the Department of Justice is the only agency that can prosecute violations of our sovereign immigration laws, it is critical that our work focuses on criminal cases that deter and reduce illegality whole promoting lawfulness in our immigration system,” Dunavant said. “This is a high priority for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and we will aggressively prosecute any persons who engage in unlawful smuggling, transportation, or harboring of multiple undocumented aliens to illegally enter the United States.”
The case will be prosecuted by assistant U.S. Attorneys, Lauren Delery and Stephen Hall. It was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations.
Jere Miles, the special agent over the Homeland Security Investigations stationed in New Orleans, said illegal border crossing poses a threat to the country’s security and that the department is committed to investigating and prosecuting those that “flagrantly violate U.S. law.”
“Criminal networks who engage in illegal cross-border smuggling pose a security vulnerability to the U.S.,” Miles said. “Further, these groups routinely place profit over the well-being of their human cargo, which often has tragic results for those taking this dangerous illegal path.”
