U.S. ATTORNEY
INDEPENDENT NEWSMEDIA
A 21-year-old Tempe man has been sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to transport illegal aliens for profit, federal officials said.
Anthony Ochoa-Renteria also faces three years of supervised release for his role in the conspiracy.
In September 2022, agents from Homeland Security Investigations initiated an investigation into alien smuggling events being arranged through Instagram, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
During the course of the investigation, the release stated, agents identified an Instagram account belonging to Ochoa-Renteria and discovered multiple occasions in which he recruited participants and coordinated smuggling events between June and September 2022.
“Then on May 14, 2023, Ochoa-Renteria was stopped by a Department of Public Safety trooper for speeding near Sierra Vista. During the traffic stop, DPS officers were assisted by Border Patrol agents who discovered two men dressed in camouflage in the trunk of Ochoa-Renteria’s vehicle, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Border Patrol agents determined that the men were Guatemalan and Mexican nationals who were illegally present in the United States.
Ochoa-Renteria admitted that he was aware the men were in the United States illegally, and that he had agreed to transport them for $200 to $300 each, authorities said.