Man gets 90 days for smuggling humans

In the first local conviction under a 2006 state law banning human smuggling, an illegal Mexican immigrant was sentenced to the El Paso County jail Tuesday.

Rogelio Contreras-Acevedo, 30, was sentenced to 90 days in the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center after he pleaded guilty to a felony of attempted smuggling of humans as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. He was originally charged with a felony that could have landed him in prison for up to 12 years.

Contreras-Acevedo, driving a 2000 Dodge Intrepid, was pulled over by a Colorado State Patrol trooper April 16 on Interstate 25 north of Fountain. There were two passengers in the car.

Contreras-Acevedo told trooper Douglas Conrad - a member of the patrol's Immigration Enforcement Unit - he was paid $5,000 to take five illegal immigrants from Phoenix, according to an arrest affidavit. He dropped three people off in Albuquerque and was to be paid $900 more to drop the remaining two in Denver.

"We applaud the efforts of the Colorado State Patrol in recognizing this is a problem for our state and taking affirmative steps to stop it," said Lin Billings, chief deputy district attorney.

Contreras-Acevedo has already served 147 days in jail since his arrest. Fourth Judicial District Judge David Gilbert also sentenced him to two years' probation and ordered he not return to the country illegally, or face prison time. He will be turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after his release from jail.

Illegal immigrants convicted of felonies are typically deported. ICE officials couldn't be reached for comment.

CSP spokesman Sgt. John Hahn confirmed it was the first human-smuggling conviction in El Paso County since the law was passed in 2006.

In 2007, the Colorado Legislature approved funding for CSP to form the Immigration Enforcement Unit. In a year, the unit has arrested 782 illegal immigrants and investigated 40 human- smuggling cases, Hahn said.