Osvaldo Coronel-Fernandez, also known by the alias "Omero," has been extradited from Mexico City to El Paso on charges of aiding and abetting unauthorized immigration for financial gain, along with conspiracy to encourage and induce others to enter the United States for financial profit, a move heralded by Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Details emerging from court documents reveal that the indictment handed down by a federal grand jury on Nov. 20, 2019, pertains to offenses allegedly committed between July 2015 and August 2016, where Coronel-Fernandez, a Mexican national, was part of a human smuggling operation that used the El Paso corridor and if he is found guilty of these charges, he could be facing substantial time behind bars the aiding and abetting charge caries a potential sentence of three to 10 years in federal prison while the conspiracy charge may tack on another up to 10 years.
The case was built on the cooperation of several agencies with the investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations and with valuable assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Marshals Service; the process of bringing Coronel-Fernandez to the U.S was facilitated by the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs and their Mexican law enforcement partners.
The United States' gratitude towards its partners was explicitly mentioned as the Justice Department thanked Mexico's law enforcement for their "instrumental" role in arresting and subsequently extraditing Coronel-Fernandez who now faces the U.S. justice system, a sentiment that underscores the complexities of cross-border crime and the efforts required to combat it affirming the ever-present need for international cooperation in the face of issues that know no borders Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Watts is handling the prosecution.
Emphasizing the principles of justice, an important reminder accompanies the announcement: "An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law."
