Phoenix man sentenced for conspiring to smuggle 5 undocumented migrants

PHOENIX — A Phoenix man was sentenced to two years in prison for conspiring to smuggle five border crossers into the U.S., federal authorities announced Friday.

Dinero Devon Washington, 46, also faces 36 months of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona said in a press release.

Washington pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport undocumented migrants on Sept. 7, 2023, prosecutors said.

Why was the Phoenix man sentenced for conspiring to smuggle people into the U.S.?

Washington allegedly conspired to smuggle the five undocumented migrants on April 16, 2021.

Prosecutors said he and his co-conspirator, Alina Pablo, drove in a Ford F-150 toward a Border Patrol checkpoint in Ajo.

“Border Patrol agents noted five other passengers in the vehicle, all wearing camouflaged clothing with backpacks and carpeting on their shoes,” prosecutors said.

The passengers were citizens of either Mexico or Guatemala with no permission to enter the U.S., prosecutors said.

The Phoenix office of Homeland Security Investigations handled this case. They found evidence Washington conspired to transport them after taking his cell phone and finding:

– Pin drops.
– Maps.
– Text messages.

The evidence showed he had planned and organized logistics of the smuggling effort, prosecutors said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis Uhl with the District of Arizona, Yuma handled the prosecution in this case.