A Guyanese national of Indian origin on Wednesday pleaded guilty before a court for smuggling an Indian into the US. If convicted, Annita Devi Gerald, 52, faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of three years, and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Her sentencing is scheduled for May 17. "Today's guilty plea puts another alien smuggling organiser out of business," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A Breuer of the Criminal Division.
"Travelling the globe seeking people willing to pay for illegal entry into the United States, this defendant sought personal riches in exchange for disregarding the immigration laws of our country," he said.
According to plea documents, Gerald provided assistance to undocumented aliens from India in their efforts to illegally enter the US. Gerald admitted that she and her co-conspirators prepared letters of invitation for several Indian nationals from a trading and agricultural company affiliated with Gerald. These letters falsely proclaimed the Indian nationals were farming experts whose expertise was needed for a project in Belize.
The letters were used to assist the aliens in obtaining the Belizean visas that enabled them to board aircraft and transit through numerous countries in route to the US.
According to plea documents, in July 2009, Gerald escorted two Indian nationals on a series of flights from Singapore to Belize. In addition, Gerald admitted to providing lodging for the aliens in Belize while they awaited additional smuggling arrangements; to obtaining a Mexican immigration stamp for one aliens passport to facilitate domestic travel in Mexico; and arranging for transportation from Belize to Mexico for one of the aliens.
Upon Geralds direction, one of the aliens was smuggled into Mexico and then into the US, according to court documents. Gerald was arrested in Houston on November 17, 2009, on a criminal complaint charging her with conspiracy to commit alien smuggling, before any of the other aliens could be smuggled into the United States.
