Alberto Guillen-Gordillo, Alien Smuggling, Montana 2024

GREAT FALLS, MONTANA - Two Mexican citizens have been caught and charged with transporting aliens from Canada into Montana, in a brazen display of human trafficking.

Alberto Guillen-Gordillo, 23, and Samuel Velasco-Tovar, 28, each pleaded guilty to transportation of illegal aliens in a U.S. District Court in Montana. They face a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided over the hearing and set sentencing for May 5, 2024. Guillen-Gordillo and Velasco-Tovar remain detained.

The two men were arrested on November 17, 2023, at around 11:15 p.m. by Border Patrol agents investigating suspected alien smuggling from Canada. The agents conducted traffic stops of two vehicles south of the U.S.-Canada border in Glacier County, Montana.

In the first vehicle, a Chevrolet Suburban, the agent found the driver and nine passengers. All of the passengers admitted to being in the United States illegally. During the stop of the second vehicle, a Chevrolet Tahoe, all of the occupants ran into a nearby field. Agents found eight individuals within one to two minutes. Each of the individuals admitted to being in the United States illegally.

In all, law enforcement transported 19 suspects to the Sweetgrass Border Patrol Station for processing. Four of the transported illegal aliens told agents they had paid from $4,000 to $4,750 to be smuggled into the United States and identified Velasco-Tovar as the foot guide who helped them cross into the United States.

Guillen-Gordillo answered the door at a Cut Bank hotel where the subjects had been staying and was taken into custody. He admitted to being in the United States illegally and rented the Chevrolet Suburban and Chevrolet Tahoe from a Utah car rental company.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paulette Stewart, Jeff Starnes and Ethan Plaut are prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol and the Glacier County Sheriff’s Office.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mt/pr/two-mexican-citizens-admit-roles-transporting-aliens-canada-montana