Phoenix woman sentenced to 33 months in prison for role in human smuggling operations

PHOENIX — A woman from Phoenix who spent 21 years smuggling migrants into the U.S. has been sentenced to almost three years in prison, authorities said.

Tonya Durinda Romero, 37, has been involved in human smuggling operations since she was 16, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

A federal judge in Arizona sentenced Romero to 33 months in prison on Nov. 14.

She was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Why did Phoenix woman face human smuggling charges?

Her sentencing came in the wake of Romero pleading guilty on July 31 to playing key roles in conspiracies to transport undocumented migrants.

Romero admitted to renting stash houses to harbor migrants who were smuggled from southern Arizona to metro Phoenix, prosecutors said.

She also admitted to securing vehicles that her co-conspirators used to bring the noncitizens deeper into the U.S.

Authorities caught onto her illegal activities on Jan. 30 when a deputy sheriff with the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office caught her driving with an expired registration.

The deputy who pulled her over discovered Romero also had a suspended license as well as no insurance coverage.

After her arrest, Romero was brought to the Casa Grande Border Patrol station, where she admitted the extent of her involvement with human smuggling schemes.