Court records show that a man in Montreal has pleaded guilty to a federal charge that he headed an organization that smuggled people into the U.S. from Canada along the Vermont and New York borders.
The 61-year-old Godofredo Rivas-Melendez entered the plea recently in U.S. District Court in Burlington, Vermont.
Rivas-Melendez and prosecutors agreed on a sentence of 50 months in prison in a plea agreement filed before the next hearing, though he could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
Rivas-Melendez, a Canadian citizen who was born in El Salvador, was extradited to the United States from Canada in October, 2019.
He pleaded guilty to a single count of court indictment that said the amount charged for human smuggling services by him is thousands of dollars.
His attorney did not comment after the last hearing.
According to the indictment, members of his organization were driving people that want to enter the Unite States illegally to different locations in New York and Vermont.
The people would be led through the border at night and once they are in the U.S., they would be taken to locations inside the country.
Rivas-Melendez pleaded guilty to one count of an indictment that was filed in December 2015. A later indictment which was filed in December 2018 said his organization functioned from 2013 until 2018.
The court records show that Rivas pleaded guilty to the charge in the 2015 indictment due to the fact that it was the document used to seek his extradition from Canada.
Prosecutors have not disclosed the number of people that have been brought into the U.S. by the organization.
Currently, his sentencing is scheduled for December.
