Two Fort Hood soldiers were sentenced to prison terms Friday for their role in a human smuggling operation uncovered last year, federal prosecutors said.
Isaiah Gore, 21, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison and Denerio Williams, 22, was sentenced to 2 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said.
The scheme involved soldiers transporting undocumented people in Texas while wearing their uniforms, according to court documents.
Gore recruited fellow soldiers, paying $2,000 per trip, and Williams went on one of the trips, court documents say. They both pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in December.
The investigation began after two other service members, who were wearing their Army uniforms, were caught with two undocumented people in the trunk of their vehicle at a Hebbronville Border Patrol checkpoint in Texas on June 13, officials said.
Those two men, Emmanuel Oppongagyare and Ralph Gregory Saint-Joie, pleaded guilty in August and are awaiting sentencing, prosecutors said.
Another soldier, Ivory Palmer, has also pleaded guilty and sentencing is pending in his case.
The trips did not involve crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, according to court documents.
In one case, the people were picked up in McAllen, Texas. In another, a person was picked up in South Texas, taken through a Border Patrol checkpoint inside the state, and then dropped off in San Antonio, according to court documents.
Gore told investigators that he had been recruited by members of a human smuggling organization, and that he was told no one would have to cross the border because the undocumented people would already be in Texas, court documents connected to his plea agreement say.
Gore and Williams each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport an undocumented alien within the United States, court records show.
Requests for comment from attorneys listed as representing Gore and Williams were not immediately returned Friday night.
