Photo: File/Drew Anthony Smith / Getty Images
By: Real America News Updated 27 Sea 2022, 0: 53 am EDT
Two soldiers from the Fort Hood military base in Texas were sentenced to prison terms on Friday for their role in a human trafficking operation uncovered last year, federal prosecutors reported.
Isaiah Gore, of 21 years, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and Denerio Williams, of 22 years, was sentenced to two years in prison, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
The human trafficking network involved soldiers transporting undocumented people in Texas while wearing their uniforms, according to court documents.
Gore recruited his fellow soldiers, paying $2,000 per trip, and Williams departed He took part in one of the trips, according to court documents. Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in December.
The investigation began after two other service members, who were wearing their Army uniforms , were caught with two undocumented individuals in the trunk of their vehicle at a Hebbronville Border Patrol checkpoint in Texas on 03 June, according to NBC News.
Those two men, Emmanuel Oppongagyare and Ralph Gregory Saint-Joie, pleaded guilty in August and await sentencing, prosecutors said.
Another soldier, Ivory Palmer, also pleaded guilty and sentencing is pending in his case.
trips did not involve crossing the border between the United States and Mexico, according to court documents.
In one case, individuals were detained in McAllen, Texas. In another, a person was picked up in South Texas, taken through a Border Patrol checkpoint within the state, and then dropped off in San Antonio, according to court documents.
Gore told investigators that he had been recruited by members of a human smuggling organizations and was told that no one would have to cross the border because undocumented people would already be in Texas, according to court documents related to his plea deal.
Gore and Williams pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport an undocumented alien within the United States, as court records show.
It may interest you:
– Employees of Disney Among 108 Arrested in Florida Human Trafficking Raid
– Border Patrol in Texas leads chase and arrests 33 people in actions against human trafficking
– Border Patrol finds two 5-year-old migrant girls alone in just two days