Man charged with human smuggling (Greeley Tribune)

Man charged with human smuggling
Eight in vehicle at traffic stop on I-76

Sharon Dunn
Thursday, August 20, 2009

A man suspected to be from Guatemala is in Weld County Jail last week after a traffic stop led to eight charges of human smuggling against him.

Gonzalo Martin-Rodas, 36, has been charged with eight felony counts after his arrest on Interstate 76.

Colorado State Patrol spokesman Sgt. John Hahn said a trooper stopped Martin-Rodas on Aug. 13 for a left lane violation as he was traveling east between Hudson and Keenesburg. Martin-Rodas was driving a 1990 Toyota Camry station wagon with eight passengers — six men and two women.

The trooper, a member of the agency's immigration enforcement unit, determined through questioning that Martin-Rodas had been driving the people through Colorado for money. Hahn did not reveal their destination or where the passengers were coming from. None was in the country legally.

Hahn said he did not know if the passengers were in the United States for work.

“Generally, when we stop them, many times the ultimate outcome is the individuals are put in positions — when they reach their destination — in situations that equate to modern-day slavery,” Hahn said. “In this case we have a situation where we had a total of nine people in a vehicle that's not equipped to handle that many people. Should there have been a crash ... there almost certainly would be fatalities.”

The immigration enforcement unit with CSP is now 3 years old. This is likely the first such smuggling case in Weld County since that enforcement unit was created, but Hahn said he could not confirm that.

The last big smuggling case in Colorado was in Jefferson County, where two men were convicted in 2008 of smuggling. The two were stopped in a van filled with 12 people from Mexico while en route to Chicago. The men both were sentenced to 90 days in jail and 20 years of probation. That was the second case in the state since the unit started.

Martin-Rodas is facing up to 12 years in prison for each offense. He also is being held without bond on hold for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

He is set to appear in court at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday for arraignment.