Couples plead guilty to harboring immigrants
Five people accused of harboring or smuggling illegal aliens at two Harlingen motels entered guilty pleas Friday in federal court in Brownsville.
Rakeshkumar Bhakta and wife Akta Bhakta, owners of the Hudson House Motel, 500 Ed Carey Drive, and his brother, Kamleshkumar Bhakta and wife, Falguniben Bhakta, owners of the Country Side Inn, 1669 N. 77 Sunshine Strip, appeared with their attorneys before U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle.
The judge questioned them about their understanding of plea bargain agreements they have made with federal prosecutors.
Also on trial was Domingo Santibaņez, charged with alien smuggling. He was the only defendant in custody, wearing a jail uniform, handcuffs and leg irons.
Reviewing court records, the judge said 27 undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents posed as undocumented aliens. Five actual aliens were involved in a series of incidents in 2006 in which the two couples from India, who own and operate the motels, were housing people they believed to be illegal aliens, according to the indictments.
The motel owners also purchased food and delivered it to motel rooms where ICE agents posing as aliens, or real aliens, were staying so they could remain undetected by law enforcement officials, the indictments state.
The four motel owners told the judge they did not dispute the information in the reports.
Tagle told attorneys for the motel owners she will not consider their mortgage and utility expenses as personal living expenses when considering what fines to assess since they live in motel rooms and do not rent or own homes.
Santibaņez also has agreed to a plea bargain with prosecutors and told the judge he did not dispute federal charges that he brought aliens from Mexico to Harlingen.
At the Country Side Inn, normal room rents of $40 a night were increased to $400 a night as part of the scheme to harbor illegal aliens, the indictment states.
When too many aliens were brought to the Hudson House, the owner offered rooms at his brother’s hotel, court documents state.
Hotel owners insisted that aliens be kept in multiple rooms, so that if a group were taken into custody from one room, the entire load of aliens would not be lost, indictments state.
The motel owners also accepted false information on registration cards from alien smugglers and provided multiple rooms to alien smugglers in an effort to conceal illegal activity from law enforcement officers, court documents state.
The date for sentencing hearings on the five people involved in the case has not yet been set, but an attorney in the case said it will likely be held in about 30 days.
Tagle continued bail bonds on the motel owners, but Santibaņez remains in custody.
