Girl Sentenced After Human Smuggling Journey Results in Dying of 16 Folks

A Cuban lady was sentenced final week to seven and a half years in jail for her function in a migrant smuggling operation that left 16 folks lifeless, together with a number of kids. 

Yaquelin Dominguez-Nieves, 25, pleaded responsible on Jan. 21 to costs related to the smuggling scheme, in keeping with a assertion from the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Southern District of Florida. 

Dominguez-Nieves entered the USA illegally in October 2022, federal prosecutors stated. A month later, she and a second suspect organized to illegally smuggle 18 Cuban migrants by boat into the USA. (The second suspect has not been arrested.)

Dominguez-Nieves collected over $11,500 from members of the family of the migrants earlier than the journey, in keeping with authorities.

Need to sustain with the newest crime protection? Join PEOPLE’s free True Crime e-newsletter for breaking crime information, ongoing trial protection and particulars of intriguing unsolved circumstances.

The small fishing boat left Cuba and headed towards South Florida on Nov. 16, 2024 with 18 migrants on board. About 30 miles into the journey, the boat sank, killing 16 folks, lots of whom had been kids, federal prosecutors stated. 

Three of the migrants’ our bodies washed up in Monroe County, Fla., authorities stated. In line with the 2 survivors, the boat was too small for the quantity of individuals it carried and didn’t comprise lifejackets. 

The survivors informed federal prosecutors that the boat captain didn’t appear to know what he was doing. 

U.S. District Choose Beth Bloom imposed a 90-month sentence – a sentence larger than the really helpful by the advisory federal sentencing pointers – due to the “severity of the offense,” prosecutors stated of their assertion.