An alleged smuggling scheme that stretched from Central America to Southcentral Alaska ended with a weekend arrest, after investigators say a Chugiak man paid $5,000 to get a Honduran woman and her young daughter across the Rio Grande so he could sponsor the child in the United States.
U.S. Border Patrol agents first found the unaccompanied girl on Jan. 16, hiding in brush near Hidalgo, Texas. Her mother was later detained while trying to cross the river. According to a federal criminal complaint, the mother and child intended to reunite with the man in Chugiak, the Anchorage suburb where he lives.
Douglas Eugene Price, 43, was arrested in Anchorage on Sunday, Feb. 1, and is charged in a criminal complaint filed Jan. 29 in McAllen federal court with one count of conspiracy to bring someone into the United States illegally, according to My San Antonio. Prosecutors allege Price paid smugglers, or coyotes, to move the mother and child across the border and planned to serve as the girl’s immigration sponsor. The complaint now underpins a federal case assigned to the Southern District of Texas.
The complaint describes investigators collecting digital and financial breadcrumbs. It includes screenshots of text messages along with what appears to be a $5,000 transfer from Price’s business account, identified in the filing as “Black Bear 9899,” to a payment app on the mother’s phone, as reported by Breitbart Texas. Investigators say the mother told agents she had previously worked for Price and planned to repay the money by working for him again in Alaska.
At a McAllen processing center, the child told agents that her mother had explained Price would sponsor her release and help her seek U.S. citizenship, according to My San Antonio. The mother was apprehended attempting to cross the Rio Grande on Jan. 22, and both later laid out the alleged plan in interviews with investigators, according to the complaint.
Once Homeland Security investigators dug into Price’s background, they flagged him as a registered sex offender. Public records cited in the complaint show multiple arrests and convictions dating back to 2002 in Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Missouri, including a Dec. 10, 2020 conviction in Oregon for attempted sexual abuse in the first degree, per reporting by Breitbart Texas. The Alaska Department of Public Safety told reporters that Price’s presence on the state’s sex offender registry stems from that Oregon conviction.
What the Charge Carries
A federal conspiracy charge under 8 U.S.C. § 1324 can bring serious time behind bars when the offense involves bringing someone into the United States for private financial gain or commercial advantage. Under the statute, offenses committed for private financial gain may be punished by up to 10 years in prison, with even higher penalties available if the smuggling results in serious injury or death, according to the statute on Cornell's Legal Information Institute.
The case underscores how federal agents are leaning on text records, money transfers and other digital trails to unravel potential exploitation and sponsorship schemes tied to the border. Price now faces federal prosecution in the Southern District of Texas, and upcoming court filings will determine when he is moved to McAllen for further proceedings.
