Source: United States Department of Justice News
Gulfport, Miss. – A Guatemalan national pled guilty to unlawful transportation of an illegal alien within the United States.
U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca, Chief Patrol Agent Jason E. Schneider of the U.S. Border Patrol’s New Orleans Sector, and Special Agent in Charge David L. Denton of Homeland Security Investigations made the announcement.
According to court documents, Yobany Macario-Morales, a citizen of Guatemala who had been living in Texas, was stopped on May 1, 2022, on Interstate 10 in Harrison County by a Harrison County Sheriff’s Deputy who is a member of the Harrison County Criminal Interdiction Team. The deputy requested assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol, and agents arrested Macario-Morales and his two passengers, both of whom were citizens of Mexico who were unlawfully present in the United States.
Macario-Morales is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 5, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release and $5,100 in special assessments. After completing any prison sentence, he also is subject to Homeland Security proceedings to remove him from the United States. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Border Patrol, and the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris is the prosecutor for the case.