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Hudson Couple To Be Deported For Harboring Illegal Immigrants

Investigators: Immigrants Harbored, Forced To Work On Farms

POSTED: 7:41 pm MDT September 18, 2006
UPDATED: 11:24 am MDT September 19, 2006

A couple from Hudson faces deportation, and their son was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine after they were sentenced Monday for smuggling and harboring illegal immigrants.

Moises Rodriguez, 65, and Maria Rodriguez, 61, were sentenced to time served, or about 11 months behind bars. Both were ordered into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation proceedings, federal prosecutors said.

Their son, Javier Rodriguez, 39, was fined and sentenced to three years of probation, with the first six months under home detention.

All pled guilty to harboring and smuggling charges on May 19.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, said they received a tip in October 2004 that led to an investigation into an illegal labor camp being run at a ranch in Hudson.

ICE said the Rodriguez family smuggled illegal immigrants into the U.S. from Mexico and brought them to Hudson where they were forced to work for them on local farms.

ICE said the immigrants would typically pay a $1,100 to $1,300 smuggling fee which was taken out of their pay until the entire amount was paid in full.

"Colorado is not a way station for misery," said U.S Attorney Troy Eid. "The fact that people were having to work off their smuggling dept in less than ideal living and working conditions makes this crime reprehensible."

"Moises Rodriguez operated a one-stop shopping approach to human smuggling," said ICE agent Jeffrey Copp. "He arranged for illegal aliens to be smuggled, then housed them in barracks on his Hudson land where they could work for him in the fields."

As part of the plea agreement, the Rodriguez's turned their 9.14-acre property over to the government including over $128,000 in cash as well as money in a bank account.

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