DALLAS - A Grand Prairie man was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for a failed human smuggling attempt.
What we know:
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, Van Donovan Brown, 31, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport aliens.
He was sentenced recently to 240 months in prison.
The backstory:
According to federal prosecutors and court documents, Brown, who also went by the name "Sledge," was actively recruiting drivers on Facebook for a human smuggling organization while living in Colombia.
In April 2023, he facilitated a smuggling attempt through a WhatsApp group chat. Records also indicated that he submitted multiple CashApp payments to a co-conspirator.
Dig deeper:
Brown had three co-defendants who were also indicted in the case.
Cameron Alexander Ford of New Jersey was recently sentenced to 120 months in prison.
John Klotz, who went by the name "Remy," was sentenced to 72 months in prison.
And Jeffrey Ray Jilpas is still awaiting hearings after being arrested on Feb. 20.
What they're saying:
"This smuggler thought that he could come to Texas, break the law, flee from law enforcement, and then resume his life back home as if nothing happened," U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons said after Ford was sentenced. "Thanks to a lengthy and thorough investigation by our law enforcement partners and federal prosecutors’ dogged commitment to justice, his home for the foreseeable future will be a prison cell."
The Source: The information in this story comes from a news release from the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas.