HARTFORD, Conn. — A Mexican citizen known as “Pancho” pleaded guilty on Friday in Bridgeport to smuggling aliens into the United States, harboring them in Hartford, forcing them to work and threatening them if they failed to pay unreasonable fees.
A release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut says that 58-year-old Apolinar Francsico Paredes Espinoza illegally reentered the U.S. twice and admitted to his crimes in federal court.
Court documents and statements reveal that, beginning in September 2022, Hartford police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation interviewed multiple Mexican nationals who said they were smuggled from Mexico into the U.S. and taken to Hartford.
Prosecutors say the victims usually arranged with Maria Del Carmen Sanchez Potrero, her co-conspirators in Connecticut and associates in Mexico to cross the border into the U.S.
To do so, they would pay between $15,000 and $20,000 each.
Most often, the victims were forced to turn over a property deed as collateral before leaving Mexico. When they arrived in the U.S., prosecutors say they were taken to Hartford area residences, including Sanchez’s and Paredes’ residence on Madison Street in Hartford.
While making the journey, the victims faced a significant risk of sustaining major injuries or dying.
According to prosecutors, when the victims arrived in Connecticut, they were forced to pay $30,000 with interest. They would also have to pay Sanchez and her co-conspirators for rent, food, gas and utilities.
Furthermore, Sanchez, Paredes and their fellow criminals made false documents for the victims, including Permanent Residence cards and Social Security cards. They also helped victims find jobs in and around Hartford.
Beyond their own jobs, some victims were forced to do housework and yardwork or help Paredes for free without having their debt reduced. Prosecutors say victims were rarely given an account of their debt.
If victims failed to make regular or expected payments, they were threatened. Some of the victims’ family members back in Mexico were also threatened, and the conspirators said they would take the property used as collateral or threaten to raise the victims’ interest payments.
Sometimes, the conspirators would even threaten to inform U.S. authorities of the victims' immigration statuses.
Prosecutors say that to date, the investigation has identified at least 18 victims of the scheme.
They add that Paredes reentered the U.S. illegally after being removed from Hildago, Texas in November 2014. After reentering the country, he was arrested in December 2018 by East Hartford police for various motor vehicle charges before being removed to Mexico again in February 2019.
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Paredes was arrested on March 1, 2023, and has been detained ever since.
Prosecutors say Paredes pleaded guilty to conspiracy to encourage and induce, bring in, transport and harbor aliens, which could land him in prison for a decade. He also pleaded guilty to illegal reentry of a removed alien, which carries a maximum prison sentence of two years.
Paredes will be sentenced on Feb. 28, 2025. Sanchez and her daughter, Porfiria Maribel Ramos Sanchez, are awaiting sentencing after already pleading guilty to their crimes.
Paredes, Sanchez and Ramos have agreed to restitution orders of $494,608, according to prosecutors.
The investigation has been led by the FBI, Hartford police, U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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