Network charged migrants $1,500 to $40,000 to enter the United States
Six people — five Cuban nationals and a U.S. citizen identified as a Florida man in the Justice Department’s announcement — were sentenced to prison for their roles in an international network that smuggled migrants, produced more than 1,700 fraudulent asylum claims and laundered more than $22 million, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday.
Federal prosecutors said the organization charged migrants between $1,500 and $40,000 to enter the United States, arranging international flights, moving people across the southern border and submitting fraudulent immigration applications. In some cases, the network chartered private planes to transport groups of migrants, according to prosecutors.
The Justice Department’s announcement was titled “Cuban Nationals and Florida Man Sentenced for Their Roles in an International Alien Smuggling, Asylum Fraud, and Money Laundering Conspiracy: Defendants Responsible for Over 1,700 Fraudulent Asylum Claims.” All six of the sentenced defendants previously pleaded guilty to charges related to migrant smuggling, immigration fraud or money laundering.
Liannys Yaiselys Vega-Perez, 27, received the longest prison term, four years. Prosecutors said she coordinated international travel and managed a fraudulent immigration services business, personally submitting hundreds of false asylum applications.
Layra Libertad Treto Santos, 30, was sentenced to 30 months. Prosecutors said she worked as an employee and manager of the immigration business, filed fraudulent asylum claims and used the smuggling network to enter the United States with members of her own family.
Four other defendants received two-year prison terms: Miguel Martinez Vasconcelos, 31; Luis Emmanuel Escalona-Marrero, 32; Walbis Pozo-Dutel, 32; and Emanuel Martinez Gonzalez, 29.
The Justice Department’s Criminal Division marked the announcement in a social media post on Oct. 29 that said: “Under President Trump, human smugglers and money launderers will never get a free pass. Operation Take Back America is empowering the Justice Department to put more criminals like these behind bars and enforce the rule of law.”
According to prosecutors, the network advertised its services on social media platforms targeting Cuban nationals living on the island. It offered assistance to people seeking to enter the United States through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, which allows eligible travelers from participating countries to visit without obtaining a traditional visa.
Federal investigators said the defendants submitted hundreds of fraudulent ESTA applications using false addresses and misleading information about applicants’ travel histories. The applications falsely claimed that individuals had not been present in Cuba since 2011, even though the applicants were living on the island when the requests were submitted.
Once migrants reached the United States, members of the organization helped prepare and submit fraudulent asylum applications and other immigration benefit requests in exchange for additional payments, prosecutors said.
The Justice Department said network members laundered more than $22 million between 2021 and 2025 through shell companies and financial transactions intended to conceal the origin of the proceeds.
Between July 2022 and November 2024, the organization spent more than $600,000 with a single commercial airline to transport migrants, according to prosecutors. One defendant also coordinated with an accomplice in Mexico to ship Cuban passports into the United States to prevent their confiscation by Border Patrol agents.
The case involves 12 defendants in all, the Justice Department said. Two have pleaded guilty and await sentencing, one was convicted at trial in September, one was sentenced in July, and two remain fugitives.