Felipe de Jesus Rosales-Herrera of Riverside pleaded guilty in federal court today to human smuggling charges, admitting he was a leader of an organisation that smuggled more than 100 unauthorised migrants into the United States, in some instances imperilling public safety by leading authorities on high-speed chases.
According to his plea agreement, Rosales-Herrera employed foot guides to lead migrants over the border and drivers to pick them up on the U.S. side and deliver them to a stash house to meet a sponsor. Rosales-Herrera admitted that he charged approximately $10,000 per migrant.
According to court documents, some of the smuggling events in the conspiracy resulted in high-speed chases and crashes, which placed the migrants, drivers, law enforcement, and members of the public at risk.
This culminated in a tragic collision on December 25, 2021. Kevin Antonio Quevedo-Moncada, acting under co-defendant Jose Luis Alejo-Cruz’s supervision, picked up three undocumented migrants in a remote area. When Border Patrol attempted to pull him over, Quevedo-Moncada fled into a nearby campground, swerving wildly and careening around a field at high speed before ramming a Border Patrol vehicle to escape.
As agents pursued him, he sped away on wet, winding roads, reaching speeds of close to 100 mph. Quevedo-Moncada lost control of his car and struck a tree, killing one of the migrants and leaving the other two in critical condition. Quevedo-Moncada pleaded guilty to charges related to this incident.
Even after learning that his driver had killed someone, Rosales admitted in his plea agreement that he and his co-conspirators continued the conspiracy. As co-defendant John Douglas Oglesby III admitted in his plea agreement, drivers were told to flee if Border Patrol attempted to pull them over.
Unfortunately, many drivers did just that, resulting in numerous high-speed chases and several crashes. Alejo-Cruz also relied on intimidation to preserve his position, tracking down and robbing two of his former drivers at gunpoint when he felt they had wronged him and plotting to kidnap a rival migrant smuggler.
“We will never stop targeting these criminal organizations who prioritize profit over lives,” said U.S. Border Patrol, San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Patrica McGurk-Daniel. “Our agents are committed to the safety and security of migrants, the public, and our nation. It is only through strong partnerships with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and all our law enforcement partners that we ensure justice is served and consequences are delivered to these criminals.”
Co-defendants Alejo-Cruz and Oglesby were previously sentenced to 120 months and 70 months in federal prison, respectively. Sentencing for Rosales-Herrera is scheduled to take place on October 11, 2024.
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