Sep. 8—Two men face up to a decade in prison after transporting and harboring over 10 immigrants in Albuquerque earlier this year.
Isaias Jose and Tomas Gaspar, both of Albuquerque, pleaded guilty to hostage taking and harboring an illegal alien. Both men face up to 10 years in prison then will be subject to three years of supervised probation, U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson Tessa DuBerry said in a news release on Monday.
An immigrant identified Jose and Gaspar, according to a criminal complaint filed at U.S. District Court.
On March 1, the FBI received a call of a person’s spouse being kidnapped, the complaint states. The person told agents they were told to pay money or their spouse would be turned over to a cartel, agents said.
The caller told agents the spouse had been living and working in Albuquerque since January. They said the two kept in touch until Feb. 23 “when contact ceased,” the complaint states.
Agents said the caller told them that on March 1 they received audio and video recordings from various phone numbers demanding payment or the spouse would be turned over to “the mafia.”
Agents started tracing calls to a home in Southwest Albuquerque where they found 11 “undocumented immigrants,” DuBerry said. One of the immigrants was a minor.
Agents also found more than 20 cellphones and a ledger describing smuggling activity, she said.
Immigrants told agents they were locked in rooms, threatened with violence and told not to contact law enforcement, she said.
Jose and Gaspar admitted to harboring the immigrants between late February and early March, DuBerry said. Jose maintained the stash house and took videos of the immigrants while Gaspar supported the operation by living at the home and managing the premises, she said.
“Both defendants acknowledged they knowingly participated in the conspiracy, which was carried out in exchange for money,” DuBerry said.