Cuban woman gets 7 1/2 years in prison for human smuggling conspiracy that led to 16 deaths
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/04/2025 (539 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
MIAMI (AP) — A Cuban woman who had come to the United States illegally was sentenced Friday to 7 1/2 years in prison for her part in a human smuggling operation that led to the deaths of 16 people.
Yaquelin Dominguez-Nieves, 26, who had been living in Sebring, Florida, was sentenced in Miami federal court, according to court records. She pleaded guilty in January to conspiring to smuggle people into the U.S.
According to court documents, Dominguez-Nieves and her then-boyfriend, who was still living in Cuba, organized a human smuggling operation in November 2022. Dominguez-Nieves collected at least $11,500 from the migrants’ family members in South Florida with the promise to bring the migrants from Cuba into the U.S.
The boyfriend, who has not been arrested, loaded about 18 migrants onto a small fishing vessel with no life jackets and with a captain who did not appear to know how to operate the vessel, according to the two survivors.
The vessel sank about 30 miles (50 kilometers) into its journey. The victims included children ranging from nine months to seven years old, as well as two 16-year-olds, officials said. Four of the migrants’ bodies were recovered at sea, and their cause of death was ruled drowning.