USCIS Assists in Investigation Leading to Sentencing of Mexican National for Smuggling and Labor Trafficking Scheme and Illegally Reentering the US

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services provided valuable assistance to the investigation that led to the sentencing of a Mexican national for a smuggling and labor trafficking scheme and illegally reentering the United States.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the sentencing of Apolinar Francisco Paredes Espinoza, also known as “Pancho,” to 40 months imprisonment for illegally reentering the U.S. and his involvement in the labor trafficking scheme. The judge also ordered Paredes to pay, jointly and severally with his codefendants, restitution of $574,608. He also faces immigration removal procedings when he completes his prison term.

According to court documents and statements made in court, victims typically arranged with Paredes’ co-conspirator Maria Del Carmen Sanchez Potrero and others in Connecticut and Mexico to cross the border into the U.S. in exchange for a fee of between $15,000 and $20,000 that each would need to pay once they were in the U.S. In most cases, the victims were required to turn over a property deed as collateral before leaving Mexico. They were then smuggled across the border and transported to Hartford area residences, including Sanchez’s and Paredes’ residence on Madison Street in Hartford, often at a substantial risk of bodily injury or death.

Once in Connecticut, victims were told that they would have to pay approximately $30,000, with interest, and that they would have to pay Sanchez and her co-conspirators for rent, food, gas, and utilities. Sanchez, Paredes, and their co-conspirators created false documents for the victims, including Permanent Residence Cards (also known as Green Cards) and Social Security cards, and helped the victims find employment in the Hartford area. In addition to their own jobs, some victims were required to perform housework and yardwork, or to assist Paredes in his job responsibilties, without compensation and without having their debt reduced.

If victims failed to make regular payments, or in amounts that Sanchez, Paredes and their co-conspirators expected, they were sometimes threatened, including with threats to harm family members in Mexico, to take property in Mexico that had been secured as collateral, to reveal victims’ immigration status to U.S. authorities, and to raise their interest payments.

To date, investigators have identified 19 victims of this scheme. Multiple victims were minors, and at least two were smuggled into the U.S. unaccompanied by a relative or legal guardian.

In November 2014, Paredes was encountered in the U.S. and removed the same day via foot at Hildago, Texas. He illegally reentered the U.S. and, in December 2018, was arrested by East Hartford Police and charged with various motor vehicle offenses. He was again removed to Mexico in February 2019, and subsequently illegally reentered the U.S.

This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hartford Police Department, U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angel Krull and Shan Patel.

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