Sharafat Ali Khan, 32, had arranged for entry of large numbers of illegal migrants from Pakistan and other countries into the United States.
The Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that a Pakistani citizen, Sharafat Ali Khan, 32, has pleaded guilty of human trafficking. His sentence is scheduled for July 6, 2017.
According to the Justice Department’s news statement, “Between March 2014 and May 2016, Khan and other co-conspirators organized and arranged the unlawful smuggling of large numbers of undocumented migrants to the United States.” The statement read that Khan, and his accomplices, organized a network to facilitate the transportation of the illegal migrants from Pakistan and other countries through Brazil and Central America. These people were to enter the United States by land, air, or sea travel.
Khan also arranged the safe house for these undocumented foreign nationals for their illegal stay in the US; and organized a human network in other countries to help route these illegal migrants to America. “Khan also admitted that voyage included harsh conditions that caused a substantial risk of serious bodily injury or death – including lengthy foot hikes with little food and water through the Darien Gap, a dangerous tropical forest area in Panama,” the department’s news media statement read.
Khan was extradited to the United States from Qatar on July 13, 2016.
The announcement in the suit was made by Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, US Attorney Channing D Phillips of the District of Columbia and Special Agent in Charge Angel M Melendez of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) in New York.