Illegal immigrant found guilty of felony transport

10/1/2010

An illegal Mexican immigrant has been found guilty of felony transport of another illegal alien.

Antonio Cervantes-Peralta, 21, of Puebla, Mexico, was found guilty by a jury in U.S. District Court in Toledo. He is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service until his Feb. 7 sentencing.

Cervantes-Peralta was charged for an April 25 incident that began when he failed to stop for a Border Patrol agent attempting a traffic stop on the Ohio Turnpike.

The suspect was behind the wheel of a van, traveling west on the Ohio Turnpike near the Elmore exit, when a Border Patrol agent noticed "road-rage characteristics" in a construction zone. The agent found several individuals listed as the owner of the vehicle during a check of the Arizona license plate.

The vehicle failed to stop for the agent's lights and sirens about 7:30 p.m. and continued westbound, a Border Patrol spokesman said.

The van went off the highway about 45 miles west, near Delta, and Cervantes-Peralta fled on foot, according to the Ohio Highway Patrol.

His passenger, Carlos Chavez-Martinez, 25, also of Puebla, Mexico, faces deportation but was not charged. Cervantes-Peralta could be sentenced to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.