MIAMI — A Cuban woman who had come to the United States illegally faces life in prison for her part in a human smuggling operation that led to the deaths of 16 people.
Yaquelin Dominguez-Nieves, 26, who had been living in Sebring, Florida, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Miami federal court to conspiring to smuggle people into the U.S., according to court records. She faces a minimum of five year in prison but a possible life sentence at an April 11 hearing.
According to court documents, Dominguez-Nieves and her then-boyfriend, who was still living in Cuba, organized a human smuggling operation in November 2022. Dominguez-Nieves collected at least $11,500 from the migrants’ family members in South Florida with the promise to bring the migrants from Cuba into the U.S.
The boyfriend, who has not been arrested, loaded about 18 migrants onto a small fishing vessel with no life jackets and with a captain who did not appear to know how to operate the vessel, according to the two survivors.
The vessel sank about 30 miles (50 kilometers) into its journey. The victims included children ranging from nine months to seven years old, as well as two 16-year-olds, officials said. Four of the migrants’ bodies were recovered at sea, and their cause of death was ruled drowning.