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13 face trial for alien smuggling
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Posted on Jul 07 1999
Thirteen of the 14 men accused of bringing undocumented immigrants into U.S. territories pled not guilty yesterday to charges of alien smuggling, and the US District Court set their trial for Sept. 7.
Of the 14 men charged, only Ming Lee pled guilty during a separate arraignment yesterday afternoon.
Assisted by an interpreter and his court-appointed lawyer Steve Nutting, Ling admitted before federal court Judge Alex Munson that he was an engineer of the fishing vessel that ferried 51 Chinese citizens from Fujian province, and that he knew they were illegal aliens.
Ming told the court that he is willing to cooperate with the US government in the alien smuggling trial.
As part of the plea agreement terms, Ming would serve as a federal witness against his 13 co-defendants.
Ming will be sentenced on Oct. 14.
Those who pled not guilty were Guo Rui Shi, Kui He, Xi Di He, Liang Gao, Jian Hui Xue, Jin Hui Xue, Peng Shi, Xing Gao, Xiu Jin He, Err Jin Xue, Yi Zhu Xiao, Zu Hui Weng, and Gui Zhu Lin.
They were the alleged crewmen of the Chinese boat which was intercepted in the Marianas waters last May.
They were charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the US—alien smuggling for financial gain; attempted alien smuggling for financial gain; and attempted alien smuggling to a place other than a designated port.
Investigations conducted by US immigration special agent Timothy Isenhart revealed that each of the undocumented migrants paid the crew men 15,000 Chinese RMB in exchange for their trip to Guam, where they had hoped to get asylum.
The Chinese boats were, however, intercepted by the US Coast Guard and the passengers were sent to Tinian instead.
Isenhart’s interview with the migrants also revealed that “as many as 15 of them had been severely beaten by the enforcers while en route to Guam.”
Isenhart said the crew men beat their victims into calling their families back home to ask for more payments.
The US Attorney’s Office has charged a total of 30 suspected alien smugglers, who were caught in separate occasions. Some of them are set to be tried on Aug. 9. (MCM)
