Dozens of undocumented migrants arrested over the weekend on a panga boat about 10 miles south of the Channel Islands archipelago are expected to appear in Los Angeles federal court this week.
Five of the 29 defendants are charged with being an illegal alien entering the United States following deportation or removal, which carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison. The remaining two dozen defendants are charged with improper entry by an alien, which carries a possible sentence of up to two years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The defendants are expected to make their initial appearances Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
According to an affidavit filed with the complaints, federal law enforcement on Saturday stopped a panga boat about 10 miles south of San Nicolas Island, which is controlled by the Navy. The boat contained 29 people, all of whom were Mexican nationals and none of whom had proper documentation to be in the United States legally, according to court papers.
Law enforcement towed the boat to Newport Beach and the defendants were processed at the San Clemente Border Patrol Station.
Ismael Angeles-Guerrero, 21, one of the five defendants charged with illegally re-entering the United States following deportation or removal, has a criminal history that includes a prior arrest in Indiana for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, resisting law enforcement, operating a motor vehicle without ever receiving a license, and possession of marijuana, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said Faustino Arguello, 38, among the two dozen defendants charged with improper entry by an alien, was encountered in 2016 by Border Patrol twice near the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona and once near the international border in Texas. Last month, federal law enforcement arrested Arguello at San Ysidro Port of Entry for presenting an entry document that did not belong to him, and he was subsequently removed from the United States, authorities said.