Spring Break
National Guardsman jailed for smuggling
Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: NEWS
LAREDO (AP) - A Texas National Guardsman and another man have been sentenced to at least three years in federal prison for helping smuggle illegal immigrants through a Border Patrol checkpoint in South Texas.
Clarence Hodge Jr., 36, of Fort Worth, a sergeant in the National Guard, and Jerry Zuniga, 29, of Laredo, pleaded guilty in August to charges of conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants.
Hodge, appearing Friday in Laredo before U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen, tearfully apologized, saying his actions embarrassed his family and the military. Kazen then sentenced him to 38 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He also must perform 120 hours of community service. The sentence is final since Hodge waived all appeals. He could have received up to 10 years in prison.
Zuniga, who was arrested along with his wife, Luisa Pacheco, for conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants and harboring illegal immigrants in their Laredo home, received three years in prison, plus three years of supervised release.
Hodge, Zuniga and two other guardsmen, Jose Rodrigo Torres and Julio Cesar Pacheco, Luisa Pacheco's brother, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants several times between May 2007 and June 7, 2007, when the smuggling operation was discovered with Torres' arrest. The two other guardsmen have not yet been sentenced.
Torres had just driven through a Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 35 north of Laredo in a passenger van leased to the Texas Army National Guard. Two dozen undocumented immigrants were inside the van.
At the time of their arrest, the soldiers were working along the border in Laredo as part of President Bush's Operation Jump Start. Court records showed Torres implicated both Pacheco and Hodge and said he expected to be paid about $3,000 for the smuggling trips.
Investigators determined Hodge and Torres were recruited by Pacheco to help move immigrants through the checkpoint, where all three guardsmen were assisting Border Patrol agents. In the scheme, Pacheco told Torres when the illegal immigrants were ready to be picked up from Zuniga's home in Laredo and Torres would get instructions where to take them by text messages to his cell phone.
Torres would make the pickup and Hodge would pretend to conduct National Guard business with Torres whenever Torres approached the service lane of the checkpoint driving the van with undocumented immigrants, easing the van's passage.
Federal prosecutors said Hodge also assisted in acquiring the National Guard-leased van for Torres to use.
Clarence Hodge Jr., 36, of Fort Worth, a sergeant in the National Guard, and Jerry Zuniga, 29, of Laredo, pleaded guilty in August to charges of conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants.
Hodge, appearing Friday in Laredo before U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen, tearfully apologized, saying his actions embarrassed his family and the military. Kazen then sentenced him to 38 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He also must perform 120 hours of community service. The sentence is final since Hodge waived all appeals. He could have received up to 10 years in prison.
Zuniga, who was arrested along with his wife, Luisa Pacheco, for conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants and harboring illegal immigrants in their Laredo home, received three years in prison, plus three years of supervised release.
Hodge, Zuniga and two other guardsmen, Jose Rodrigo Torres and Julio Cesar Pacheco, Luisa Pacheco's brother, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants several times between May 2007 and June 7, 2007, when the smuggling operation was discovered with Torres' arrest. The two other guardsmen have not yet been sentenced.
Torres had just driven through a Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 35 north of Laredo in a passenger van leased to the Texas Army National Guard. Two dozen undocumented immigrants were inside the van.
At the time of their arrest, the soldiers were working along the border in Laredo as part of President Bush's Operation Jump Start. Court records showed Torres implicated both Pacheco and Hodge and said he expected to be paid about $3,000 for the smuggling trips.
Investigators determined Hodge and Torres were recruited by Pacheco to help move immigrants through the checkpoint, where all three guardsmen were assisting Border Patrol agents. In the scheme, Pacheco told Torres when the illegal immigrants were ready to be picked up from Zuniga's home in Laredo and Torres would get instructions where to take them by text messages to his cell phone.
Torres would make the pickup and Hodge would pretend to conduct National Guard business with Torres whenever Torres approached the service lane of the checkpoint driving the van with undocumented immigrants, easing the van's passage.
Federal prosecutors said Hodge also assisted in acquiring the National Guard-leased van for Torres to use.
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