July 24, 2008

MASSACHUSETTS MAN SENTENCED FOR
TRANSPORTING ILLEGAL ALIENS

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that on July 24, 2008, Mervin Gonzalez, 34, of Lynn, Massachusetts was sentenced to a prison sentence of time served for his role in the transportation of illegal aliens through the District of Vermont. Gonzalez had been in custody since his arrest on October 29, 2007 and therefore served slightly less than nine months in prison. United States District Judge J. Garvan Murtha, sitting in Brattleboro, Vermont, also sentenced Gonzalez to two years of supervised release following his prison sentence.

According to court documents, on the evening of August 16, 2007, United States Border Patrol Agents stopped a car containing six people on Gallup Road in Franklin, Vermont, which runs parallel to the U.S./Canadian border. One of the occupants was identified as Mervin Gonzalez, who was not arrested at that point. Four of the other individuals were identified as illegal aliens from Brazil. After an investigation conducted by the United States Border Patrol, it was determined that certain of the illegal aliens had arranged for Gonzales to transport them from the United States into Canada. Gonzales was arrested in Massachusetts in October of 2007. He pled guilty in federal court on February 6, 2007 to a single-count indictment charging him with transporting illegal aliens for financial gain, a felony.

Gonzales has a lengthy criminal history, which includes an April 2007 felony conviction in Massachusetts for possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Gonzales was on probation for that offense when he committed the offense in Vermont.

The United States Attorney commended the United States Border Patrol for their work on this matter. The prosecutor is Assistant United States Attorney Timothy C. Doherty, Jr. The defendant is represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Elizabeth Mann.