South Florida Sun-Sentinel
10:43 PM EDT, April 21, 2008
WEST PALM BEACH - Two Cuban nationals who tried smuggling 19 people into
the country illegally will spend five years in prison, a federal judge
ruled Friday.
Earlier this year, Daniel Espinosa-Ruiz, 41, and Carlos Pupo-Mendoza,
37, pleaded guilty to 19 counts of trying to bring people into the
country for commercial advantage or private gain. Espinosa-Ruiz, the
boat captain, also pleaded guilty to failing to abide by the orders of a
federal marine officer to heave his vessel. Officials stopped the boat
by disabling both engines with gunshots.
On Thanksgiving Day 2007, law enforcement stopped a speedboat bound for
the Jupiter Inlet from the Bahamas. Espinosa-Ruiz initially refused to
stop the boat, and "disabling fire" was needed to do so, according to
the United States Attorney's Office. On board were 19 people, including
a 7-year-old girl, from Brazil and the Dominican Republic.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-flb3bdigest04223sbapr22,0,6750395.story
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