Three Illegal Aliens from Guatemala Indicted for Crimes Related to Unaccompanied Alien Children, including Smuggling and Fraud Charges

Illegal Alien from Guatemala Sentenced to Federal and State Prison for Smuggling, Sponsoring and Sexually Assaulting Unaccompanied Alien Child Yesterday in Cleveland, Ohio, indictments were returned charging three illegal aliens from Guatemala for international smuggling of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) and defrauding the government, while another illegal alien was sentenced to prison for smuggling a UAC to the United States in 2023 and then fraudulently obtaining custody of the child who he then sexually abused. The indictments charge Maritza Azucena Cahuec Coc, 38, and her brother Carlos Agustin Cahuec Coc, 33, both illegal aliens from Guatemala, for their roles in an international alien smuggling conspiracy, spanning from approximately December 2020 to October 2023, that included submitting multiple fraudulent sponsorship applications to the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to gain custody of UACs. Gladys Marina Caal Chen, 20, an illegal alien from Guatemala, who, herself, was fraudulently sponsored as a UAC, is charged with making false statements to the government in connection with a UAC sponsorship application. Juan Tiul Xi, 27, from Guatemala, pleaded guilty for helping smuggle a child into the United States and submitting a fraudulent sponsorship application, falsely representing that he was the child’s brother. After gaining custody, Xi sexually abused the child. For that, he was convicted of sexual battery of a child in state court and sentenced to eight years in prison. Additionally, Xi was sentenced to 26 months in federal prison to be served consecutive to the eight year state prison sentence. “For too many years, under the prior administration, unaccompanied children were smuggled to the United States and then taken in by a mismanaged government program guided by reckless policy direction,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Instead of protecting children, these defendants and others allegedly took advantage of the program and used it to entice the illegal smuggling of unaccompanied children to the United States and, as the sentence of Tiul Xi shows, leave them vulnerable to sexual assault, trafficking, and other exploitation.” “Martiza Azucena Cahuec Coc and her co-conspirators allegedly engaged in a complex and calculated pattern of illegal conduct by committing multiple crimes irrespective of the laws of the United States,” said Special Agent in Charge Joshua DelManzo of the FBI Cleveland Field Office. “They blatantly disregarded the laws of this country at the expense of minor children. Making false and fraudulent claims while also purporting to be the children’s relatives lends to further victimization of the minor children for whom they claimed to be helping. These behaviors highlight an incomparable disrespect for the country, programs, and people that, if correctly followed, would have afforded the proper entry into the United States.” UACs who are apprehended by Department of Homeland Security immigration officials or another federal agency are transferred to ORR, which is responsible for the care and custody of UACs awaiting immigration proceedings. The process of releasing a UAC from ORR custody to a sponsor involves several steps, including, but not limited to, the identification of a sponsor, the submission of a sponsor application, and an assessment of sponsor suitability, which includes verification of the sponsor’s identity and relationship, if any, to the child. According to court documents, between in or around December 2020 and October 2023, Maritza Cahuec Coc coordinated efforts with co-conspirators to smuggle aliens, including minors, into the United States. As part of this scheme, Maritza Cahuec Coc also submitted multiple UAC sponsorship applications to ORR using aliases’ birth certificates and Guatemalan consular ID cards, among other documents, and falsely claimed to be UACs’ close relative to deceptively convince ORR personnel that she was related to the UACs to obtain custody. Several of Cahuec Coc’s applications were successful. Paychecks addressed and made payable to others including at least one of the UACs sponsored by Maritza Cahuec Coc were deposited into Maritza Cahuec Coc’s and a co-conspirator’s bank accounts. Also according to court documents, Caal Chen was encountered during a court-authorized search of Maritza Cahuec Coc’s residence on May 22. Caal Chen was previously sponsored as a UAC by one of Cahuec Coc’s co-conspirators who fraudulently used an alias. Caal Chen is alleged to have also lied to ORR in or around January 2024 in her own application to sponsor a UAC using an alias. At the time of her arrest, Caal Chen again lied to law enforcement by providing yet another alias, but later admitted her real name was Caal Chen. Carlos Agustin Cahuec Coc, the brother of Maritza Cahuec Coc, was subsequently arrested on May 28 while driving a vehicle registered to Maritza Cahuec Coc and at the time had with him a 16-year-old UAC passenger. Carlos Cahuec Coc communicated with Maritza Cahuec Coc, discussed human smugglers bringing a UAC to the United States illegally and how they would deceive ORR and fraudulently sponsor the UAC here in the U.S. Maritza Cahuec Coc was arrested on May 22 and is charged with conspiring to defraud the United States, harboring aliens, and encouraging and inducing and conspiring to encourage and induce aliens to enter the United States illegally as well as making false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements, and aggravated identity theft. If convicted, Cahuec Coc faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for conspiracy to encourage and induce illegal entry, a maximum penalty of five years in prison for making false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements, and mandatory consecutive penalties of two years in prison, respectively, for aggravated identity theft. Carlos Cahuec Coc is charged with encouraging and inducing for financial gain and conspiring to encourage and induce aliens to enter the United States illegally. Carlos Cahuec Coc faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for conspiracy to encourage and induce illegal entry. Caal Chen is charged with making false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. According to court documents, Juan Tiul Xi helped arrange for a 14-year-old female child and her family to find someone to lend them money and pay a “coyote” to smuggle the young girl to the United States. The smuggling arrangement saddled the UAC and her family with a substantial financial burden. Moreover, Tiul Xi took advantage of a government program designed to protect children who enter the U.S. unaccompanied. Specifically, he instructed the UAC to use the name and birth certificate of Tiul Xi’s minor sister to enter the United States so that he could falsely claim in his UAC sponsorship application that he was the UAC’s brother. Tiul Xi made these false representations in an application that he signed under the penalty of perjury. ORR relied on Tiul Xi’s misrepresentations, approved his application to sponsor the UAC, and released the UAC to Tiul Xi’s care in September 2023. After her release to Tiul Xi from ORR’s custody, Tiul Xi sexually assaulted the UAC, which resulted in his conviction on two counts of sexual battery in state court. Tiul Xi is serving two consecutive 4-year sentences in Ohio for the sexual assault of the child. Tiul-Xi pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of encouraging or inducing illegal entry for the purpose of financial gain; one count of making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement; and one count of aggravated identity theft. His sentence announced today will be served after he completes his state sentence.