United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced Thursday that William Giraldo Cabanzo, 59, of Columbia, was sentenced by Chief District Judge Robert A. Molloy to six months in prison after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Bring Aliens to the United States.
According to the court documents, Cabanzo facilitated the illegal entry of a family of four Venezuelans into the United States using fabricated travel documents.
Cabanzo arranged for the family to travel from Venezuela to the British Virgin Islands and thereafter to St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, by private vessel.
From St. John, the family travelled on a commercial ferry to St. Thomas, where their illegal entry into the United States was discovered by law enforcement.
Upon completion of his incarceration, Cabanzo, himself an illegal alien having been removed from the United States in 2021, will be deported to his native Colombia, pursuant to federal immigration laws.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cherrisse R. Woods.
