Chester PA Man Pleads Guilty To Migrant Smuggling Conspiracy

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced Cesar David Martinez-Gonzalez, 39, of Chester, Pennsylvania, has entered a plea of guilty in connection with a conspiracy to help smuggle and encourage and induce dozens of migrants from South America to enter the United States illegally so that he could profit from their labor. The object of the conspiracy, for the personal financial gain of Martinez-Gonzalez and others, was to illegally smuggle citizens of South American countries into the United States across the U.S.-Mexico border, and to encourage and induce them to enter the United States. Martinez-Gonzalez fronted money to “coyotes” in Mexico who guided migrants across the Rio Grande and through holes in the U.S.-Mexico border wall, and provided them with information to give to Customs and Border Protection so that they could be released—on parole—to his residences. Martinez-Gonzalez is scheduled to be sentenced on March 18, 2025. He faces a maximum possible sentence of 120 years in prison.