LAREDO, Texas – In a grim reminder of the dangers of human smuggling, a 35-year-old citizen of the Dominican Republic has been sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for his role in the conspiracy that resulted in the deaths of two individuals.
Wilkin Perez-Perez pleaded guilty on January 12, 2023, to conspiracy to transport individuals within the United States resulting in death. U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison found Perez-Perez to be a leader in the conspiracy and ordered him to serve 135 months in federal prison.
The investigation into Perez-Perez’s activities led to the discovery of his role in the transportation of individuals into the United States, as well as their harboring in the country. On September 21, 2017, Melvin L. Barahona-Godoy and Yoryi Alexis Perez led several people to the Rio Grande River, where two individuals drowned while attempting to cross into the United States. Their bodies were discovered along the riverbank.
Perez-Perez had returned to the Dominican Republic following the discovery of the deceased individuals, but was later determined to be in charge of and managing the U.S. branch of the organization. He had coordinated the transportation of these and other individuals, including the two that died, into the interior of the United States and harboring them in Laredo.
“Two bodies found along the banks of the Rio Grande,” a tragic and all too often headline made possible by ruthless and reckless human smugglers like Perez-Perez and the transnational criminal organizations that employ the likes of him,” said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. “We will go to any lengths necessary to prosecute the leaders and members of these organizations who care only about cash and not about the humans they transport. Let this case be an example to anyone thinking about becoming a part of the deadly smuggling industry in the United States, you will be held accountable…no matter how long it takes.”
Barahona-Godoy, 27, of Guatemala, and Perez, 34, of the Dominican Republic, were also charged in relation to the transportation and harboring of the men and others and were later sentenced to 57 and 78 months in prison, respectively. Homeland Security Investigations, Border Patrol, and U.S. Marshals Service conducted the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Scott Bowling prosecuting the case.
Perez-Perez will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
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Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Human Trafficking|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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