Delaware County Man Pleads Guilty To Migrant Smuggling Operation

Saturday, November 30, 2024, 6:30 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

PHILADELPHIA, PA.- On Tuesday, a 39-year-old Chester, Pennsylvania, man will be facing up to 120 years in federal prison following pleading guilty to multiple counts in connection with smuggling dozens of migrants from South America illegally into the United States for his own personal financial gain.

     On Tuesday, November 26, 2024, Cesar David Martinez-Gonzalez, 39, of Chester, appeared in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Gerald A. McHugh to multiple counts of Conspiracy in Human Smuggling; and Encouraging and to Induce Dozens of Migrants into the United States.

     According to U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero and charging documents filed with the court, Martinez-Gonzalez fronted money to “Coyotes” in Mexico who, in return, would guide migrants from South American countries across the Rio Grande and through holes in the U.S.-Mexico border wall and provide them with information to give to Customs and Border Patrol officials so they could be released on parole to Martinez Gonzalez’s residences.

     Martinez-Gonzalez then paid for the airline flights to bring the migrants to Philadelphia and, once they arrived, transported them to houses in and around the Chester, Pennsylvania, area.

     Once arriving, Martinez-Gonzalez and his associates would impose on the migrants thousands of dollars in debts owed to him, which the migrants would have to pay off by working long hours at low-paying jobs and forfeiting half of their weekly wages to Martinez-Gonzalez.

     Martinez-Gonzalez also assisted the migrants in obtaining false identification and low-paying jobs. The debts imposed by Martinez-Gonzalez were well in excess of what it cost to get the migrants to Chester, Pennsylvania, and house them there.

     “Martinez-Gonzalez took advantage of vulnerable migrants for his financial benefit,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “He induced them to come to the United States, then imposed thousands of dollars of so-called ‘debts,’ which they had to repay through weeks or months of labor. My office and our partners will continue to target these human smugglers, who both prey on disadvantaged populations and flout our country’s immigration laws.”

     During Tuesday’ hearing, Judge McHugh accepted Martinez-Gonzalez’s guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for March 18, 2025, at which time he will face a maximum penalty of 120 years in federal prison.