Internet Bill of Rights
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Columbia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 2, 2021
Former State Department Employee Indicted for Concealing Information in Background Investigation
WASHINGTON – Paul Michael Guertin (“Guertin”), 40, of Arizona and former resident of Washington, DC, was indicted on March 29, 2021 by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia for wire fraud and obstructing an official proceeding. The indictment was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and Special Agent in Charge Elisabeth Heller, of the U.S. Department of State, Office of Inspector General.
Guertin was a Foreign Service Officer who served on multiple State Department assignments, including overseas postings to U.S. diplomatic missions in Shanghai, China and Islamabad, Pakistan, and a posting to the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at State Department headquarters in Washington, DC. As a condition of his employment, Guertin was required to apply for and maintain a Top Secret security clearance. According to the indictment, Guertin intentionally concealed information on his SF-86 background investigation questionnaires and in interviews with State Department background investigators. He withheld information about several categories of conduct, including an undisclosed sexual relationship with a Chinese national, whose U.S. visa application was adjudicated by Guertin while he was serving as a consular officer in Shanghai, China; undisclosed gambling debts; and an undisclosed $225,000 loan from two Chinese nationals, who were directed by Guertin to provide $45,000 of the initial disbursement in the form of cash in $100 bills.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
This matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of State, Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Brown and Thomas Gillice, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Chad Byron.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/former-state-department-employee-indicted-concealing-information-background-investigation
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of California
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 2, 2021
Brothers Sentenced for Smuggling Disaster that Resulted in Tragic Deaths of Three Sisters
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – April 2, 2021
SAN DIEGO – Two brothers from Chihuahua, Mexico, were sentenced in federal court today to 66 months in prison and a $500 special assessment for smuggling three sisters across treacherous terrain along the U.S.-Mexico border in an ill-fated trek that resulted in the tragic deaths of the young women - Juana Santos Arce (age 35), Margarita Santos Arce (age 32) and Paula Santos Arce (age 29) of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Cecilio and Ricardo Rios-Quinones pleaded guilty in August 2020 to Transportation of Aliens Resulting in Death, Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain and Conspiracy.
Calling this one of the worst human smuggling scenarios she has seen in 15 years as a judge, U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo stated that “three women froze to death because defendants sought to benefit from their need to come here. It is tragic that someone wants to come here to work and dies, but it is more tragic that there are people who benefit from this, who treat them like cargo.”
Judge Bencivengo found it significant that when events turned horrific, defendants did not immediately seek help and turn around. She recognized the presence at the sentencing hearing of several agents who engaged in the rescue operation, noting that they put their own lives at risk only to find two women dead and one barely alive, and despite their best efforts they could not get off the mountain in time to save her.
According to the government’s sentencing memorandum, the women occasionally came to the U.S. for work. According to family members, Paula, the youngest of the three sisters, was married and had an 18-month-old daughter at the time of her death.
As part of their plea agreements, the defendants admitted that they conspired with others to serve as foot guides in order to smuggle individuals illegally into the United States, and that they were ill-prepared when they guided the three sisters through a remote, mountainous region during a snow storm.
According to the plea agreements, the defendants guided the three sisters across the border from Mexico through the boundary fence in a remote area within the Southern District of California. They encountered cold, windy and rainy weather. It then began to snow. They lacked proper clothing, shoes, shelter, and other food and equipment to remain or hike in this cold, remote, mountainous environment.
According to reports, agents from the Border Patrol, Search, Trauma and Rescue (BORSTAR) unit initiated a rescue operation due to a distress call in the Boulevard Border Patrol Station’s area of operation on February 10, 2020, at approximately 1:50 p.m. The call concerned five individuals who were lost and experiencing hypothermia. BORSTAR agents initially encountered the two defendants in a snowy area approximately 20.5 miles east of the Tecate, California port of entry, more than 12 miles north of the border. The defendants pointed agents to the direction of the three sisters. Agents subsequently found the three sisters lying on the ground on a ridge.
Two of the sisters were already dead. The third sister was responsive but suffering from severe hypothermia. She later died despite gallant efforts of members of BORSTAR, Border Patrol Agents from the Campo/Boulevard area and the City of San Diego Fire & Rescue Department, who placed their own lives at risk while trying to keep the distressed sister alive as temperatures dropped and winds accelerated. Autopsies confirmed the three sisters died due to environmental hypothermia.
DEFENDANTS Case Number 20cr0868-CAB
Cecilio Rios-Quinones Age: 38 Chihuahua, Mexico
Ricardo Rios-Quinones Age: 23 Chihuahua, Mexico
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Transportation of Aliens Resulting in Death – Title 8, U.S.C., Section 1324(a)(1)(A)(i) and (B)(iv)
Maximum penalty: Life in prison or death and $250,000 fine.
Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain – Title 8, U.S.C., Section 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii)
Maximum penalty: Three years mandatory minimum, 10 years maximum, and $250,000 fine.
Conspiracy – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 371
Maximum Penalty: Five years in prison and $250,000 fine.
AGENCIES
Homeland Security Investigations
U.S. Border Patrol, Intelligence Unit
> A jury trial for the remaining defendants is scheduled for April 5, 2021 at the federal courthouse in Boise.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-id/pr/two-leaders-aryan-knights-prison-gang-each-sentenced-over-17-years-rico-conspiracy