SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — A Dominican national was sentenced Friday to nine years in federal prison for his role in a human smuggling operation that resulted in the death of a three-year-old boy near Rincón, Puerto Rico, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Alcibades De Paz, 34, was convicted of bringing non-citizens into the United States, resulting in death, after pleading guilty in August. Prosecutors said De Paz was at the helm of a vessel that transported migrants from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico in December 2022. When the vessel’s engine failed, De Paz restarted it and guided the craft toward the Puerto Rican shore while evading law enforcement.
As the vessel approached the shoreline, it capsized on Dec. 23, 2022, killing the young boy and putting other passengers’ lives in jeopardy. The U.S. Border Patrol and local law enforcement had been attempting to safely intercept the vessel when the incident occurred, officials said.
In addition to the nine-year prison term, De Paz was ordered to serve three years of supervised release. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri and U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow emphasized the gravity of the case in their announcement of the sentence.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Juan, with assistance from the Puerto Rico Police Bureau and the U.S. Border Patrol’s Ramey Sector. It was prosecuted under the Department of Justice’s Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force program, which focuses on human smuggling networks posing national security and humanitarian risks.
De Paz’s sentence underscores the severe consequences of human smuggling that leads to loss of life, authorities said.