Court to sentence human trafficker (Richmond Palladium-Item)

Court to sentence human trafficker
Federal hearing set July 14 for man stopped in Preble County, Ohio
5:07 AM, Jun. 11, 201
Written by Brian Zimmerman

A man who pleaded guilty to human trafficking in April will be sentenced in federal court July 14.

Remigio Jimenez-Lucero, 40, was transporting illegal immigrants along Interstate 70 in Preble County when he was pulled over for a registration violation, state police said in reports. Jimenez-Lucero did not have a license, police said.

Jimenez-Lucero is being detained for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in the Montgomery County jail, pending his 11 a.m. July 14 sentencing hearing in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Ohio in Dayton, Ohio.

The Dayton Daily News, citing affidavits filed in federal court, said Jimenez-Lucero was carrying nine passengers from Mexico and El Salvador who had entered the U.S. illegally.

Jimenez-Lucero told authorities that he worked for an organization that transported illegal immigrants from California to the east coast and that he made as many as two trips a month since September 2010, the newspaper said. State police recently made another human trafficking arrest in southwest Ohio while patrolling Interstate 70 in the Springfield, Ohio, area.

Troopers on May 27 pulled over a 2007 Toyota Sienna minivan for a speed violation and arrested two men on smuggling charges.

Juan Varillas-Santiago and Moises Martinez-Garcia were transporting 10 individuals to Columbus, Ohio, and no one inside the vehicle could produce identification, police said in reports.

Like Jimenez-Lucero, Martinez-Garcia told police he worked for an organization that smuggled immigrants into the country and had enlisted Varillas-Santiago for help.

Both men also face federal trafficking charges.