ALBANY, NEW YORK – Brayan Granados-Betancourt, age 24, and a citizen of Colombia, was sentenced on August 4 to time served (29 days in jail) for transporting two Mexican citizens who had illegally entered the United States from Canada. The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Chief Patrol Agent John C. Pfeifer, United States Border Patrol, Swanton Sector.
As part of his guilty plea, Granados-Betancourt admitted that on July 7, 2017, he drove a rental car to the Akwesasne reservation in Hogansburg, New York, where he picked up the two Mexican citizens and drove them to Ellenburg, New York. Acting on a civilian tip, Border Patrol stopped the car and arrested the three men.
The Mexican citizens, who crossed from Canada into the United States by boat, were Granados-Betancourt’s acquaintances and he agreed to bring them to New York City. The Mexican citizens, Marcelo Chavez-Vera and Carlos Olivar-Varon, were each convicted on July 20 of illegal entry, a misdemeanor.
Granados-Betancourt was in the United States on a visitor’s visa. Following his sentencing, he was remanded to the custody of the Department of Homeland Security for removal proceedings.
This case was investigated by the United States Border Patrol and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Collyer.
