Citizen Staff

Citizen Staff Report

A Mexican national has admitted his part in an immigrant-smuggling operation run out of Tucson.

Alejandro Herrera-Estrada pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to transport illegal aliens for commercial advantage or private financial gain.

Herrera-Estrada, who also goes by the names Chino and Homar Tiznado, is set to be sentenced Nov. 20 by Judge Raner C. Collins.

He could be sentenced to up to 10 years, fined $250,000 or both.

Herrera-Estrada admitted that he and others arranged for the transportation of illegal immigrants from a motel to the Golden State bus terminal on Plumer Avenue.

Once the immigrants arrived at the terminal, they were loaded onto Golden State buses and taken to such destinations as Phoenix, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Herrera-Estrada was paid large amounts of cash from Western Union offices in Tucson.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 16th, 2003 at 9:14 am and is filed under City/State. Tags for this post: Alien, Arizona, Courts, Criminal Procedure, Government, Immigration, page-5C, Plea, Tucson, United States. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.