Tonya Durinda Romero, 37, of Phoenix, has been sentenced to 33 months in prison for her involvement in a human smuggling operation. U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi issued the sentence on November 14 after Romero pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Transport Illegal Aliens, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
According to court documents released by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Romero was apprehended on January 30, due to her vehicle's expired registration. Further inspection revealed she was driving with a suspended license and had no insurance. After the stop by a Pinal County Sheriff’s Office deputy sheriff, the situation quickly revealed a long-time involvement in a conspiracy trafficking undocumented noncitizens from southern Arizona to Phoenix. Having admitted to renting stash houses and supplying vehicles for the operation, Romero's criminal activities can be traced back to when she was just 16 years old.
Following her arrest, Romero was transported to the Casa Grande Border Patrol station where she confessed to her longstanding involvement in the smuggling ring during an in-depth interview. This operation not only smuggled people across the desert but also involved Romero harboring undocumented individuals in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
By her own admission, Romero has been involved in human smuggling since she was 16 years old, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The case, numbered CR-24-00346-PHX-JJT, was the result of a collaborative investigation by Customs and Border Protection's United States Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Pinal County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa E. Jennis from Phoenix was in charge of the prosecution, landing Romero a total of three years of supervised release following her prison term.
