Two California residents who smuggled Mexican nationals into the United States in exchange for cash were sentenced Monday to federal prison terms, while the wife of one of the defendants was ordered to stay at a halfway house.
Phillip Kubeck, 54, of Calexico, his wife, Roselia, and Earl Allen, 42, of Woodland, each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring in illegal aliens for financial gain, harboring illegal aliens and transporting illegal aliens.
U.S. District Judge Larry Burns sentenced Phillip Kubeck to a year in federal prison followed by three months at a halfway house. Allen was sentenced to nine months in prison, while Roselia Kubeck, 48, was sentenced to six months at a halfway house.
Those smuggled into the country by the defendants paid as much as $10,000 to be brought into the United States through a hole in the border fence, then transported further into the country via a private airplane in order to bypass Border Patrol checkpoints, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Wasserman.
According to his plea agreement, Allen ran an "alien stash house" in El Centro, where people were taken after being smuggled over the border.
Allen admitted driving illegal immigrants to the Imperial County airport, while Phillip Kubeck admitted that he served as the pilot and flew people past all Border Patrol checkpoints and on to Los Angeles.
According to her plea agreement, Roselia Kubeck served as the communications link between her husband and Allen.
