Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Mateo Gomez Gonzalez29, was sentenced to one year in prison for illegally transporting Mexican citizensThis was announced by the Federal Attorney’s Office in Sacramento through a press release.
The coyote, who pleaded guilty to the federal charge on October 24, he is also charged with threatening an immigrant family in Sacramento for a salary dispute.
According to prosecutors, on September 28, 2022, a Sacramento resident called police to report that his relative and a family friend were being held against their will over a payment dispute over a people smuggling operation.
After the complaint, the authorities managed to locate and intercept the car in which four undocumented immigrants were being transported by Gomez Gonzalez. The Mexican was arrested and the immigrants rescued.
Court documents shared by the Department of Justice, DOJ, indicate that the trafficker demanded additional payment for turning over the two immigrants under threats of leaving them in a hideout where they could not be found.
Gomez was part of a smuggling ring that transported people from Mexico to the United States through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, according to a criminal complaint filed.