FEDS CHARGE 13 PROPRIETORS OF ARIZONA MOTELS WITH USING BUSINESSES TO HARBOR SMUGGLED ALIENS

PHOENIX - Indictments charging 13 owners and former owners of six motels on Main Street in Mesa, Arizona were unsealed late yesterday. The indictments charge the defendants with harboring illegal aliens and allege that the businesses facilitated organized human smuggling. The government is seeking forfeiture of five of those properties following a nine-month undercover probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The initial results of the investigation were announced here this morning by U.S. Attorney Paul K. Charlton and ICE Special Agent-in-Charge Roberto G. Medina, who say the case underscores a commitment by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to aggressively investigate and prosecute human smuggling organizations and those who profit from this criminal enterprise.

According to the indictments, on numerous occasions the defendants rented rooms to undercover officers posing as human smugglers, with some charging the smugglers higher rates than their ordinary customers. The indictments go on to describe how some of the defendants allegedly coached the undercover officers on ways to conceal their smuggling activities, advising them to register under false names, rent multiple rooms, and park their vehicles in places that would avoid attracting attention.

Officers from ICE who were assisted by officers from the Mesa Police Department executed search warrants on five of the businesses named in the indictments. All of the defendants, with the exception of one, have been arrested. The final suspect, Roshankumar Bharatbhai Bhakta, is a fugitive and is still being sought.

U.S. Attorney Paul K. Charlton stated that “this investigation, as with others conducted in Arizona, demonstrates the extent to which the illegal alien smuggling industry has infiltrated and infected legitimate businesses. Unfortunately, it would appear that the potential for large profits has caused some business owners to not only turn a blind eye to illegal activity, but as these indictments indicate, in many instances to be complicit in their commission.”

“Human smuggling is a ruthless criminal enterprise that puts the safety of our communities and even our country at risk,” Special Agent in Charge Medina said. “These indictments should serve as sobering warning that ICE is targeting not only the criminal networks directly responsible, but also those who profit from it. Businesses like these that collude with human smugglers bear a substantial responsibility for the violence and bloodshed that this illicit trade generates.”

Each of the defendants in the case is charged with one count of conspiring to harbor illegal aliens, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In addition, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has indicted five of the motels and is seeking forfeiture of those properties.

Targeting the monetary assets of those involved in human smuggling is a key facet of ICE’s strategy to combat this dangerous criminal activity. In 2004, ICE nationwide seized more than $7 million from organizations involved in human smuggling and human trafficking. This year, that figure more than tripled to nearly $27 million.

The criminal probe focusing on the Mesa motels formally began in February 2005 after ICE received several leads from the public regarding possible human smuggling activity at the establishments. Border Patrol agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection assisted ICE in the ensuing investigation.

Owners of several Mesa motels, including the Hiway Host Motel on Main Street, were arrested in a human-smuggling sting.

Julio Jimenez Tribune

Mesa motel sting nets 13 for smuggling
By Katie McDevitt, Tribune
November 11, 2005
Six motels on Mesa’s Main Street operated as safe houses for human smuggling, federal officials said Thursday following a nine-month undercover investigation. Thirteen motel owners and former owners were charged with conspiring to harbor illegal immigrants and could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Five properties will be seized by the government, while the Roadrunner Motel, which has since been sold to new owners not involved with smuggling, will be left alone.

The suspects are accused of renting rooms to undercover officers posing as smugglers. Investigators said some motel operators charged the undercover agents higher room rates than ordinary customers and coached them on ways to conceal their smuggling activities.

Roshankumar Bharatbhai Bhakta, a suspect from the Westernaire Motel, told an undercover agent that over time he would "take out all the white people" if the agent brought more immigrants to the business, court records show.

"You don’t have to be in the Valley long to see that smugglers are people who will kill and rape the hostages they hold," said Paul Charlton, U.S. Attorney for Arizona, whose office will prosecute the cases. "It is not merely a matter of profit. (The motel operators) are assisting people who harm others."

Officials said "loads" of illegal immigrants were taken into custody during the investigation and are being held as witnesses or on suspicion of illegal border crossing. Officials declined to give numbers and could not say if any smugglers, also known as "coyotes," were picked up during the sting.

Eight of the motel owners charged were U.S. citizens, while five were British citizens, authorities said. The families from different hotels were not related even though many of them share the last name "Patel."

The indictments describe how some of the motel operators advised the undercover officers to register under false names and park their vehicles inconspicuously to throw off law enforcement. Many encouraged undercover agents to turn off the lights, hide the people and spread them out among multiple rooms.

Gitaben Babulal Patel, a suspect from the Kiva Lodge Motel, told an undercover agent that she could sell immigrants sodas for $5 and phone cards to call Mexico, according to the indictment.

"The situations they were forced to live in were subhuman," said Roberto Medina, Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent in Phoenix. "My understanding is some of the special agents were becoming ill from the situation."

The probe began in February after ICE received several leads from people about possible human smuggling activity at the establishments. Border Patrol agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection assisted ICE in the ensuing investigation, and Mesa police assisted while the search warrants were served on Tuesday.

One suspect, Roshankumar Bharatbhai Bhakta, 20, who is known as "Rush," was not in the country at the time of his indictment, and authorities are calling him a fugitive.

Neighbors and businesses near the hotels were not surprised by the accusations. However, none of them said they saw large groups of immigrants being shuffled into hotel rooms.

"I don’t like it, but I had suspected this had been going on because people had been saying there were coyotes in there," said Gene Ham, owner of Mesa Royale mobile home park next door to Kiva Lodge Motel.

In the past six months, the Majestic Guest Inn had 51 police calls for service, the most of any of the motels. Many of the calls were reports of prostitution, subjects disturbing the peace and other suspicious activity. The Hiway Host Motel was also investigated for prostitution, as well as drugs and car thefts.

"I didn’t know about the hotels, but I’m not surprised," said Peggy Hughes, who lives behind the Hiway Host Motel. "We see crime all the time, and we’ve just about had it."

Authorities called the most recent sting one operation among many investigations in the Valley. Undercover officials approached other motels in Mesa during the operation, but the other motels declined offers to house immigrants.

In 2001, officials seized a multimillion dollar bus terminal in the West Valley and a hotel in Yuma for similar activities.

"We want to hurt the operations and business people where it really hurts — their pocketbooks," Medina said.

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