Photo credit: Reuters
Three Mexican boat captains pleaded guilty to federal charges Tuesday in connection with two separate incidents last year in which small vessels carrying undocumented migrants capsized off the coast of San Diego County, leaving a total of nine people dead, including a 14-year-old Indian boy and his 10-year-old sister.
The incident involving the siblings occurred the morning of May 5 near Del Mar and resulted in the deaths of four migrants; an unrelated incident occurred the night of Nov. 14 off the coast of Imperial Beach and resulted in the deaths of four migrants and one man prosecutors believe to be the co-captain of the vessel that overturned.
Jesus Ivan Rodriguez Leyva and Julio Cesar Zuniga Luna pleaded guilty Tuesday in San Diego federal court to charges related to the May 5 incident. Prosecutors said Rodriguez was acting as the boat’s captain, while Zuniga was a co-captain who also fueled the vessel. They pleaded guilty to charges of bringing in aliens resulting in death and bringing in aliens for financial gain.
According to documents in the Del Mar capsizing case, the panga piloted by Rodriguez and Zuniga left Mexico on May 4 with 19 people on board. A problem with the engine initially forced the group to return to Mexico shortly after departure, and engine problems continued to plague the vessel as it travelled overnight across the international border, prosecutors said.
The engine finally failed early the next morning while the boat was about 200 yards off the coast of Del Mar, resulting in the vessel rotating in the water and being overturned by a wave, Assistant US Attorney Sean Van Demark said. By that time, Rodriguez and Zuniga had instructed the boat’s occupants to remove their life jackets so they could move quickly when they arrived on shore.
Emergency crews responding to the incident found the bodies of Mexican citizens Marcos Lozada Juarez and Gorgonio Placido Diaz, as well as 14-year-old Indian citizen Prince Patel. Prince’s 10-year-old sister, Mahi, also died, though her remains were not discovered until a few weeks later.
Three people were charged in connection with transporting the survivors away from the scene: each pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 21 months.
The second incident, which occurred in November off Imperial Beach, unfolded similarly, with survivors telling investigators that the vessel experienced engine problems on its way from Rosarito into US waters, according to court documents in that case. Late at night off the coast of Imperial Beach, waves overturned the boat and then flipped it back upright.
Four migrants were found dead in the water that night, while a fifth body, believed to be the boat’s co-captain, washed ashore about a week later.
That boat’s captain, David Alfonso Barrera Nunez, also pleaded guilty Tuesday to at least one count of attempting to bring in aliens resulting in death.
Prosecutors said the migrants who died were Bartolo Baltazar, Luis Humberto, Mazariegos de Leon, Hector Gomez Lopez and Margarita Espinosa Castellanos. The suspected co-captain whose body was later washed ashore was identified as Jose Angel Vera Romero.
Rodriguez and Zuniga are slated to be sentenced in June, while Barrera is scheduled to be sentenced in July.
Source: The San Diego Union Tribune
