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Two guilty in fatal smuggling attempt

The race between a Coast Guard cutter and their speedboat carrying 29 Cubans led to a 6-year-old boy's drowning.

MIAMI - Two men pleaded guilty Wednesday to organizing a Cuban smuggling trip last month that ended when their speedboat loaded with 31 people capsized as they fled the Coast Guard, drowning a 6-year-old boy.

Alexander Gil Rodriguez, 25, and Luis Manuel Taboada Cabrera, 28, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to encourage and induce aliens to illegally enter the United States. The men, both Cuban nationals who had immigrated to Miami, will face a maximum sentence of 10 years and fine of $250,000 at a Jan. 24 hearing.

"These smuggling ventures recklessly create a substantial risk of death. In this case, an innocent 6-year-old boy died. This must stop," U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said. In a statement, he said his office "will take necessary steps to prosecute both those who engage in the smuggling and those who form criminal enterprises to profit from the hopes of those who seek freedom."

Prosecutors would not say whether they think the men were paid or if they had made previous smuggling runs.

The men's attorney, Steven Amster, said they are distraught over young Julian Villasuso's death, and feel much of the blame falls on the Coast Guard.

"Out in the ocean, things weren't handled properly," Amster said, declining to be more specific. But Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil compared Gil and Taboada to a driver who tries to flee police, then blames officers when he loses control and hits a tree.

"The lives that were imperiled were imperiled by the operators at the controls," he said. "They were the ones who unsafely overloaded the boat. They were the ones who operated the boat at an unsafe speed. They were the ones who operated the boat in an erratic manner to avoid law enforcement. Those combined resulted in the loss of life."

Gil and Taboada loaded 29 Cubans, including Julian and his parents, onto a 33-foot, Florida-registered speedboat on Oct. 12. The boat tried to speed away after it was intercepted by a Coast Guard cutter 45 miles south of Key West, but it capsized when the passengers went to one side of the boat.

Everyone was rescued except Julian, who drowned, trapped beneath the boat.

The boy was buried in Florida, and his parents, Julian Villasuso and Maizy Hurtado, were allowed to enter the United States. The other survivors were sent back to Cuba.

Cubans who set foot on U.S. soil are generally allowed to stay, while those intercepted at sea are usually returned to Cuba.

[Last modified November 3, 2005, 01:06:17]