Arizona woman convicted in illegal immigrant case
Jun 21, 2012, 5:03 PM
PHOENIX – A Stanfield woman has been convicted of transporting illegal
immigrants from Mexico across the Arizona border earlier this year.
Prosecutors said Thursday that a federal jury in Phoenix found 51-year-old
Renalda Bernice Ortega guilty after a two-day trial in U.S. District Court in
Phoenix.
Ortega is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 9.
Evidence presented at trial showed that on Feb. 6, a U.S. Border Patrol agent
spotted a vehicle that was being driven erratically in a remote area south of
Stanfield.
Stanfield is about 50 miles south of Phoenix.
As the agent followed the vehicle, he saw three passengers jump out and run
into the desert.
Authorities say the three people were illegal immigrants and Ortega had agreed
to transport them across the border.
