SAN DIEGO – A 47-year-old woman who used her ranch hide illegal immigrants was ordered to forfeit her 73-acre ranch to the U.S. government, officials said.
On Wednesday, a federal jury convicted Kala D. Rains, of Potrero, California, of seven counts of conspiracy and alien smuggling.
Rains faces a sentence of three years to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for February 27.
Rains acted in concert with other co-conspirators to use her ranch to facilitate the bringing in and harboring of illegal aliens in order to transport them further into the interior of the United States, officials said.
Prosecutors presented evidence of video-recorded undercover meetings, audio recordings, and telephonic evidence to build the case of the conspiracy. Jurors also heard from aliens smuggled into the United States by the organization who testified that they were to pay between $6,500 and $7,500 to members of the conspiracy as a smuggling fee, officials said.
Evidence showed that she was part of a conspiracy that orchestrated the smuggling of several loads of illegal aliens from Mexico into the United States in and around the Tecate, California- area, according to authorities.
Previously, co-defendants Caroline Haro Espindola, Jose Maria Partida-Esquivel, and Alexander Flores pleaded guilty for their roles in the alien smuggling conspiracy, officials said.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Border Patrol.