CHARLOTTE AMALIE – After a two-day trial, a federal jury convicted Omaily Sanchez Taveras, 36, of the Dominican Republic, of migrant smuggling, U.S. Attorney Delia L. Smith said.
For his conviction, Taveras faces a maximum sentence of 10 years of incarceration and a maximum fine of $250,000.
According to evidence presented at trial, on October 13, 2024, federal authorities received a tip of a suspicious vessel in the Fortuna Bay area of St. Thomas with what appeared to be aliens on board.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Interdiction agents traveled to the area and encountered the vessel dead in the water near West Cay.
On board the vessel were four Romanians, four Dominican Republic nationals and two were Brazilians who all paid Taveras to take them to Culebra, Puerto Rico.
This case was investigated by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Interdiction (AMO). It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Everard Potter and Denise George.