Two smugglers who left pregnant woman to die in California sentenced

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[February 19, 2015]  By Marty Graham
 
 SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Two men who left a pregnant woman to die in an isolated mountain region of southern California after they smuggled her across the U.S.-Mexico border were sentenced to federal prison on Wednesday, officials said.

Carlos Hernandez-Palma, 35, was sentenced to seven years and Fernando Armenta-Romero, 43, received a sentence of four years and nine months after pleading guilty to two smuggling counts each, the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego said in a statement.

The victim, Jaqueline Capistran-Ochoa, 32, and her husband, Baltazar Razo-Barreto, agreed on Dec. 26, 2013, to pay $6,000 each to be smuggled into the United States from Mexico.

But the short, easy trip they were promised turned into long days of mountainous hiking. Capistran-Ochoa became increasingly weak and lost consciousness on the third night, according to court documents.

The smugglers refused Razo-Barreto's pleas that they call for help, saying they couldn't use their cell phones. Eventually, they promised to stay with the woman while her husband went for help.

They abandoned her hours later – although they said she was still alive – without ever seeking help, according to court records. Instead, they called Armenta-Romero's brother to pick them up, according to the complaint.

Razo-Barreto hiked out of the wilderness and called authorities. A search and rescue team with the U.S. Border Patrol looked for Capistran-Ochoa in the Otay Mountain Wilderness for a day before finding her body in an area known as the Olive Grove.

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She had died of diabetes complications and hypothermia, according to court records. Razo-Barreto and the couple's three surviving children were in court for the sentencing, the Attorney's Office said in a statement.

"These smugglers showed a profound lack of humanity when they refused to call for help and left a dying woman alone in the middle of nowhere," U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said.

(Editing by Curtis Skinner and Paul Tait)

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