A woman who led authorities on a high-speed vehicle chase, then stopped and instructed migrants to flee down an interstate highway where one of them was killed, will serve ten years in federal prison.
Georgina Ramirez, 44, was sentenced on Thursday by US Chief District Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales after pleading guilty to conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and high-speed flight from an immigration checkpoint in connection with the Sept. 20, 2023 incident.
On that day, Ramirez drove six migrants “stashed” in her Anthony, New Mexico, home to Deming, New Mexico, expecting to be paid for transporting them through an immigration checkpoint on Interstate 10 West. According to court records, a smuggling “scout” who worked with Ramirez informed her that Border Patrol inspectors at the checkpoint did not search the car.
Ramirez arrived at the checkpoint shortly after midnight in her silver Nissan Pathfinder, but agents were already on duty and questioning drivers. She lowered her window and showed agents her driver’s license but refused to lower the back passenger windows, claiming the button did not function.
According to court filings, Border Patrol officials detected more passengers and were about to refer Ramirez to a secondary screening location when the woman sped away from the checkpoint.
The Pathfinder reached speeds of 90 to 110 mph on I-10 West, and the driver turned off the headlights to avoid following Border Patrol agents.
According to records, Ramirez stopped the Pathfinder six miles west of the checkpoint. “I pulled into the median and instructed everyone to run. We fled on foot. “While fleeing, one of the aliens I was transporting was hit by an oncoming vehicle and killed,” Ramirez stated in her plea bargain.
Agents arrested Ramirez and four other passengers immediately after a tractor-trailer struck the fifth passenger, according to court papers.
Ramirez will serve three years of supervised release after being released from jail, according to a statement from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.
The conclusions were provided by the US Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations, with Assistant US Attorneys Kirk Williams and Randy Castellano prosecuting the case.