Two men — a Dominican national and a Puerto Rican — have been indicted on federal charges for smuggling foreign nationals into the United States via the U.S.-Canada border.
Federal attorneys in the U.S. District of Vermont and other agencies announced the indictment on Wednesday, detailing the transnational human smuggling and money laundering scheme that occurred under the Biden administration.
The indictment alleges Francisco Antonio Luna Rosado, 27, an illegal alien from the Dominican Republic, and Jesus Hernandez Ortiz, 37, of Puerto Rico, brought foreign nationals from Mexico and Central and South America into the United States via the U.S.-Canada border.
1/2 Francisco Antonio Luna Rosado, 27, illegal alien from the Dominican Republic, and Jesus Hernandez Ortiz, 37, of Puerto Rico, charged with “conspiring to smuggle foreign nationals from Mexico and Central and South America into the United States via the U.S.-Canada border,” pic.twitter.com/6KbvGu9evb
— Darias News (@DariasNews1) February 12, 2026
They each face one count of conspiracy to illegally bring aliens to the United States and 12 counts of illegally bringing aliens to the United States for the purpose of private financial gain.
The charges stem from a Sept. 17, 2023, smuggling event, but Luna Rosado allegedly directed smuggling operations from at least August 2022 through March 2024 and profited from it.
The Department of Justice issued a press release detailing the unsealed indictment.
According to court documents, the men are accused of helping to guide and transport aliens across the U.S.-Canada border into northern Vermont and beyond. Luna Rosado allegedly connected them with human smuggling drivers, who took them to other parts the country.
Luna Rosado is also charged with two counts of transactional money laundering related to monetary transactions involving property derived from smuggling activities, the DOJ said.
According to court documents, photos and other evidence, Luna Rosado allegedly coordinated the illegal transport of aliens into northern Vermont for more than a year.
Hernandez allegedly drove a rented Home Depot van to transport the migrants, which law enforcement stopped during an alleged smuggling operation.
Among the court records are text messages between Luna Rosado and aliens discussing where to go as they cross the border.
Federal prosecutors also obtained text messages between Luna Rosado and Hernandez, with translations into English, discussing where to pick up the migrants.
Court documents indicate the illegal immigrants would fly from their home country to southern Canada, where Luna Rosado allegedly used live shared cellular location data to guide the aliens across the Canadian border.
Once they entered northern Vermont, Luna Rosado used an approximate 70-person encrypted chat platform to arrange for drivers, including Hernandez Ortiz, to pick up the migrants at the northern border, according to the indictment.
The drivers then drove the illegal migrants from Vermont to New York City. Once they safely arrived, the aliens paid Luna Rosado in U.S. currency.
Prosecutors allege Luna Rosado made financial transactions into various accounts in amounts exceeding $10,000 related to the human smuggling operation.
According to the DOJ press release, agents from the Swanton Sector Intelligence Unit assigned to the U.S. Border Patrol Newport Station and the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Derby Line Office led U.S. investigative efforts, with assistance from HSI’s Human Smuggling Unit in Washington, D.C. and CBP’s National Targeting Center International Interdiction Task Force.
In another human smuggling case out of Louisiana, Olvin Javier Velasquez-Maldonado, 40, of Honduras, recently pleaded guilty for his role in a scheme to illegally smuggle Honduran nationals and cocaine into the United States.
According to court documents, in February 2022, Maldonado and other co-conspirators attempted to smuggle more than 20 Honduran migrants and approximately 24 kilograms of cocaine from Utila, Honduras, to Cocodrie, La., aboard the M/V Pop, a sportfishing vessel co-owned by co-conspirator Carl Allison.
Many of the aliens paid up to $20,000 to Allison or his co-conspirators to be smuggled into the United States.
Three additional co-conspirators have also pleaded guilty and were sentenced for their roles in the scheme. The made several trips over the course of approximately three years, also during President Joe Biden’s border crisis.
Maldonado was extradited to the United States from Honduras on April 9, 2025. Maldonado pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine hydrochloride. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, according to a DOJ press release.
