Three indicted in separate migrant smuggling cases off the Keys
Federal grand juries indicted three men this month in separate migrant smuggling cases that took place off the Florida Keys between December and late January.
The charges come as the Keys and South Florida are experiencing a surge in maritime migration from Cuba and Haiti. The people are either coming by makeshift vessel or by hiring smugglers to ferry them to the United States.
Deyvis Borroto Gil was indicted last week on 19 human smuggling counts — each carrying a maximum five-year prison sentence — and one count of conspiracy, for which he faces up to 10 years. Court records did not have details of the alleged smuggling operation, and the case has been sealed.
This week, grand juries handed down separate indictments against Julio Borges Barrero and Jorge Herrero Gamez on Wednesday.
Borges Barrero is accused of smuggling 26 people aboard a 28-foot boat. A Coast Guard crew pulled him over about 11 nautical miles southeast of Marathon on Jan. 23. He is charged with 26 human smuggling counts.
Herrero Gamez was stopped by the Coast Guard off the Keys with 14 migrants in a 27-foot center console, twin 225-horsepower engine boat on Jan. 25, according to his indictment.
There is no complaint available explaining the vessel stop, but along with the 14 human smuggling counts, he also faces an additional five years in prison on a charge of “failing to heave to,” which means he didn’t immediately stop when the Coast Guard went after him.
Information about the men’s attorneys was not immediately available.
Officials are urging would-be migrants not to make the dangerous journey across the Florida Straits, and are stressing that paying smugglers is not a safe alternative, and could end up being more treacherous.
Late last month, 39 people likely died in what authorities say was a smuggling operation in which the boat they traveled on overturned on its way to Fort Pierce Inlet from the Bahamas.
One person from the group survived and the Coast Guard recovered five bodies. The rest were lost at sea. The incident is under investigation by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations. If caught, the person or people behind the operation could be charged with the death of all 39 people.
This story was originally published February 10, 2022 at 10:45 PM with the headline "Three indicted in separate migrant smuggling cases off the Keys."
