Sarah Louise Branch, 37, from Sydney, Australia, pleaded guilty “to encouraging and inducing the entry of an illegal alien into the United States” in a U.S. District Court on Aug. 14. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Branch’s plan to sneak her fiance, Benigno Godinez-Cortez, across the border was foiled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents after they searched her vehicle when she drove from Canada to the United States via the port of entry in Calais, Maine. During the search, the agents found a Mexican passport, male clothing, and photographs of her fiance.
“Ms. Branch initially claimed he had recently traveled by means of airline from Canada to Mexico,” the court documents said. However after border agents spotted someone crossing the border illegally, they started suspecting Branch was lying.
She eventually admitted that she had left her fiance in Canada near the U.S. border and was planning to reunite with him after he entered the country illegally.
“She then confessed she had told Mr. Godinez-Cortez that she would cross at the nearest port of entry and expected he would contact her with instructions of where to pick him up,” the court documents stated, reported the newspaper.
Fiancé Had 2 Prior Deportation Orders
Godinez-Cortez also pled guilty on Aug. 4 in a U.S. District Court to “unlawfully re-entering the United States.” He is also expected to be sentenced in due course.The fiancé has also been the subject to two U.S. deportation orders, one in 1994 and another in 1996, reported The Australian. He had also been previously charged with battery and assault but it is unclear if the matter proceeded to prosecution.
This case comes at a time when the Trump administration is pushing for stronger enforcement of border protection laws as thousands of illegal immigrants, mostly from Mexico and Central America, continue to unlawfully cross the southern border.
