SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (CMC) – A 34-year-old national of the Dominican Republic has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for his role in a human smuggling operation that resulted in the death of a three-year-old child.

The sentencing of Alcibades De Paz was announced on Friday by the Department of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Court documents revealed that De Paz was a key operator of a vessel transporting non-citizens from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico on Dec. 23, 2022. The overcrowded vessel, which included a three-year-old boy among its passengers, was attempting to evade law enforcement when it capsized off the shoreline of Rincón, Puerto Rico. The child drowned in the incident.

De Paz admitted to restarting the engine and holding the throttle as the vessel neared shore, deliberately avoiding interception efforts by U.S. authorities. On Aug. 27, he pleaded guilty to a charge of bringing certain aliens into the United States, resulting in death.

In addition to the nine-year prison term, De Paz will serve three years of supervised release.

The investigation, led by HSI San Juan, received support from the Puerto Rico Police Bureau’s Joint Forces of Rapid Action and U.S. Border Patrol’s Ramey Sector. The case was prosecuted under the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force (ECT) program, a Justice Department and HSI initiative targeting human smuggling networks that pose significant national security, public safety, and humanitarian risks.

The prosecution team included Trial Attorney Marie Zisa from the Justice Department’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Emelina M. Agrait-Barreto for the District of Puerto Rico. The ECT program coordinated efforts with U.S. and international law enforcement to bring De Paz to justice.