USCIS Assists Investigation Leading to Sentencing of Mexican National for Smuggling and Labor Trafficking Scheme

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.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the sentencing of Maria Del Carmen Sanchez Potrero, a/k/a Maria Carmela Sanchez, to 51 months imprisonment for her involvement in the scheme. The judge also ordered Sanchez to pay restitution of $574,608, and she faces immigration removal procedings when she completes her prison term.

According to court documents and statements made in court, victims typically arranged with Sanchez 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 United States. In most cases, the victims were required to turn over a property deed as collateral before leaving Mexico.  They were smuggled across the border and transported to Hartford area residences, including Sanchez’s 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 and her co-conspirators created false documents for the victims, including Permanent Resident 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 without compensation and without having their debt reduced.

If victims failed to make regular payments, or in amounts that Sanchez and her 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.

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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