SAN DIEGO – A complaint was filed on Nov. 7 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California against Dania Olivero, 51, charging her with concealing, harboring and shielding from detection certain illegal aliens in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii).
Seven of the 44 illegal aliens found at Olivero’s home were being detained as material witnesses.
All admitted to being citizens of a country other than the United States and all admitted they are deportable.
Shortly after 6 a.m. on Nov. 6, U.S. Border Patrol Dispatch received a call from the Sand Diego Police Department requesting assistance at a residence in the 4900 block of University Avenue in San Diego.
Agent T. Wong responded to the call and met with Sgt. Y. Quintos, who informed Wong that he and his fellow officers were dispatched to the residence in response to two separate citizens’ reports “concerning two vehicles dropping off multiple individuals, who then nervously and hurriedly entered the home.”
Quintos said he later identified one of the residents as Dania Olivero and observed multiple individuals inside the house.
When questioned about the individuals, Olivero told Quintos she invited them all to the house to drink beer.
Quintos noticed the beer appeared to be recently removed from the refrigerator and the individuals appeared nervous and were not drinking the beer, which had yet to be opened.
Police officers also encountered numerous individuals in the backyard of the residence, some of whom absconded upon their arrival.
Because the officers suspected the individuals might be illegal aliens, they contacted the Border Patrol for assistance.
Officers detained 44 suspected illegal aliens for an immigration evaluation.
They also detained Olivero and two other residents of the house, Javier Cid and Abril Rojas-Jimenez.
Forty-two of the individuals detained claimed to be citizens of Mexico while two claimed to be citizens of Guatemala.
Another individual, Miriam Lopez, who admitted earlier to Wong to being in the United States illegally, presented an expired U.S. Employment Authorization card and a Social Security card.
It was later discovered Lopez was a friend of Olivero and not one of the smuggled aliens.
Lopez was separated from the group of smuggled aliens and detained along with Olivero, Cid and Rojas as a potential principal in the case.
After being read her Miranda right, Rojas said she understood those rights and was willing to speak without an attorney.
Rojas said she was born in San Diego, is a citizen of the United States and is Cid’s girlfriend.
She told agents she and Cid were currently living with Olivero, Cid’s mother.
She said a couple of months earlier she observed several individuals in the backyard she suspected were illegal aliens because they appeared dirty and disheveled.
Rojas said Olivero told her that she knew the individuals were illegal and was housing them in order to pay for the house.
Rojas also stated she heard Olivero telling the various individuals coming to the house not to use the front door because she didn’t want to draw too much attention and “burn” the house.
After Olivero was read her Miranda Rights, she too said she understood them and was willing to speak without an attorney.
Olivero told agents she is a lawfully present citizen of Cuba and admitted she knew the individuals arrested at her house were illegal aliens.
She also admitted she has been involved in smuggling illegal aliens since 2014.
Describing that day’s event, Olivero stated she met a friend named “Juan” at a bar. After leaving the bar, they both returned to Olivero’s residence.
Olivero said Juan told her he was going to bring some friends to her house and he would pick them up in the morning. Juan left and returned a short while later with numerous individuals.
Olivero said she agreed to house the people because Juan promised to pay her and she needed the money for rent.
Although she wasn’t told how much she would be paid, Olivero said she assumed it would be $50 per alien, which is what she was paid in the past.
After Cid stated he understood his Miranda Rights and agreed to speak without an attorney, he claimed he had no knowledge of there being illegal aliens in the house and only Olivero and/or Lopez could have let them in the house.
Lopez confirmed she is a citizen of Mexico and that she was in possession of a legally issued employment authorization document as the result of a battered spouse petition she filed, which allowed her to remain in the United States legally.
She said Olivero is her friend and she sleeps over occasionally.
That day, Lopez said she was present when approximately six unknown men arrived. A short while later she heard some noise and saw it was the police.
Lopez said she told Olivero to open the gate for the police while she went to go check on some children sleeping in the bedroom.
On her way to the bedroom, Lopez said she stepped on numerous people lying on the floor and stated it was difficult to maneuver her way through all of them to get to the bedroom.
The illegal aliens detained as material witnesses told agents they are citizens of Mexico and were not in possession of any documents that would allow them to enter and/or remain in the United States legally.
They said they made their smuggling arrangements in Mexico and that they each agreed to pay between $5,000 and $8,500 to be smuggled into the United States.
One of the illegal alien witnesses said Olivero asked them for and wrote down the contact information of the persons that were going to pay their smuggling fees and then instructed them to get into a small shed occupied by approximately 30 other people.
He stated there was no bathroom in the shed and they were given only a bucket to use.
He said they were not provided any food or water while in the shed.
Another illegal alien stated they were locked inside the shed, which had no light or ventilation.
Olivero executed a personal appearance bond of $30,000 secured by the co-signatures of financially responsible (related) adults.
The court’s pretrial conditions of release restricts Olivero’s travel to the Southern District of California with a specific condition that she not enter Mexico.
