On Tuesday, Amalia Gonzalez-Lara, of Oaxaca, Mexico, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins to 21 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for her role in smuggling over 100 illegal aliens.
Gonzalez-Lara, age 43, pleaded guilty on November 18, 2021 to one count of conspiring to transport and harbor over 100 illegal aliens for profit. Gonzalez-Lara managed, supervised, and coordinated smuggling operations for a stash house located in Avondale, Arizona. On January 12, 2021, law enforcement agents located 20 undocumented citizens, all nationals of Mexico or Guatemala, inside the residence. Over the course of the conspiracy, the house was used to conceal large numbers of noncitizens who had been smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border into Arizona and transported to the Phoenix area.
Co-conspirator Sergio Vazquez-Flores, 46, who operated the stash house on behalf of Gonzalez-Lara, will be sentenced on March 15, 2022.