Cuban Alien Pleads Guilty to Role in International Alien Smuggling, Asylum Fraud, and Money Laundering Conspiracy

TAMPA, Fla. - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services played a critical role in an investigation that resulted in a Cuban national pleading guilty to alien smuggling, asylum fraud, and money laundering. According to court documents, Yuniel Lima-Santos, 31, of Tampa, Florida, conspired with others to operate an alien smuggling organization that encouraged thousands of Cuban aliens to enter the United States using fraudulent Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) applications and visa waivers. The defendants advertised their smuggling services and bogus visa services across multiple social media platforms to solicit Cuban nationals and other aliens to attempt to illegally enter the United States and fraudulently obtain lawful status in the United States.

The organization's advertised services included assisting Cubans in making false claims of European citizenship to enter the United States through a European tourist visa waiver or ESTA and filing hundreds of fraudulent ESTA applications with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) using fake addresses and fabricated documents.

Lima-Santos furthered the conspiracy by helping move aliens from their countries of origin, including Cuba, into the United States. This included purchasing international and domestic flights to transport aliens into and throughout the United States. Lima-Santos and co-defendant Frandy Aragon Diaz smuggled five aliens into the United States. Lima-Santos also admitted to helping Aragon Diaz bring Cuban women illegally into the United States, where they worked in strip clubs to repay their smuggling debts. As part of the conspiracy's money laundering crimes, Lima-Santos filed articles of incorporation in Florida for a shell company. The company had no employees, payroll, or reported income but was used to move proceeds from the smuggling scheme and conceal the true source and nature of the ill-gotten funds.

As part of the conspiracy, aliens were charged between $1,500 and $40,000 for smuggling services. Co-conspirators also chartered private planes to transport groups of aliens. Lima-Santos and co-defendants conspired to move funds regularly to companies and locations outside the United States, including by purchasing international flights for aliens to travel into the United States. Between 2021 and 2024, Lima-Santos transmitted more than $600,000 from the United States to other countries to purchase flights for aliens to unlawfully enter the United States.

Yuniel Lima-Santos pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling for financial gain, five counts of alien smuggling for financial gain, one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, and one count of conspiracy to conceal money laundering instruments.

Lima-Santos faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

As part of the conspiracy, 12 individuals were charged in a superseding indictment for their roles. Liannys Yaiselys Vega-Perez, 31; Miguel Alejandro Martinez Vasconcelos, 31; Layra Libertad Treto Santos, 30; Emanuel Martinez Gonzalez, 29; Walbis Pozo-Dutel, 31; and Luis Emmanuel Escalona-Marrero, 32, have all pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Erik Ventura-Castro, 24, pleaded guilty on May 7 and was sentenced in July to 30 months in prison. Lazaro Alain Cabrera-Rodriguez, 28, and Gisleivy Peralta Consuegra, 41, are awaiting trial scheduled to begin on Sept. 21.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno for Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Director Joseph Edlow of USCIS made the announcement.

HSI Tampa, U.S. Border Patrol Miami Sector, and USCIS' Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate led U.S. investigative efforts, with substantial assistance from HSI's Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C., and CBP's National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force. Authorities in the Cayman Islands provided valuable assistance.

Trial Attorney Amanda Brown of the Criminal Division's Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Courtney Derry for the Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

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