MIAMI — A woman who entered the U.S. illegally pleaded guilty in federal court this week to conspiring to smuggle undocumented migrants into the country.
Yaquelin Dominguez-Nieves, 26, of Sebring pleaded guilty Tuesday in a federal court in Miami.
Around 2022, the Department of Justice said Dominguez-Nieves collected at least $11,500 from the migrants' family members in South Florida with the promise to smuggle the migrants from Cuba into the U.S.
Investigators said Dominguez-Nieves transferred the money she collected to her co-conspirator located in Cuba.
The DOJ said Dominguez-Nieves' co-conspirator then loaded about 18 migrants onto a small fishing vessel with no life jackets and with a captain who, according to the two survivors, did not appear to know how to operate the vessel.
The boat later sank roughly 30 miles into its journey to the U.S., killing all but two migrants aboard.
Many of the 16 victims were young children and teenagers, including children ranging from nine months to 7-years old, as well as two 16-year-olds. Four of the migrants' bodies were recovered at sea and died from drowning.
Dominguez-Nieves faces up to life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison.
A sentencing hearing is set for April 11 in Miami.
