Boyd pleads Guilty to Human Smuggling

The son of a Florida congressman arrested near Willcox, AZ on Sept. 14 pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to transport and/or harbor illegal aliens for financial gain, said Sandra Raynor, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix.

John Finlayson Boyd, 30, will continue to reside at a residential drug treatment center until he is sentenced by Chief Judge John Roll in Tucson on Dec. 18 at 9:05 a.m. The felony is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both, Raynor said.

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Charles R. Pyle ordered Boyd released and into the drug treatment program on Sept. 17. He had been arrested at a Highway 191 U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint near Willcox on Sunday, Sept. 14, when a "Border Patrol K-9 alerted to the possible presence of aliens in the bed of the truck," stated the criminal complaint from U.S. District Court.

He is the son of U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.), of Monticello, Fla. in District 2. His web site states that John also resides in Florida.

The criminal complaint stated that Boyd, driving a white Ford pickup truck, stopped at the primary inspection area, where the K-9 alerted to the vehicle. An agent saw an individual hiding under a piece of plywood in the bed of the truck and asked Boyd to exit the truck for further inspection.

Agents found an unaccompanied six-year-old female in the passenger's seat who was not wearing a seat belt, two other individuals lying on the floorboard behind the front seat and two more under the plywood in the bed of the truck. The four individuals admitted that they were in the U.S. illegally, the complaint said.

Further inspection revealed two plastic bags that contained several rocks of crystal methamphetamine, four unopened syringes, a spoon with white residue and burn marks on the bottom, and three knives. Also found was a Beretta 22LR pistol, loaded with eight rounds of ammunition, and a spare magazine loaded with eight rounds of ammunition in a suitcase in the bed of the truck, the complaint said. The complaint did not state to whom the narcotics, paraphernalia, pistol and ammunition belonged.

It was determined that the six-year-old's parents had already passed through the checkpoint when Boyd arrived, and agents were able to contact the girl's mother using Boyd's cell phone, with his consent. An hour later, the parents returned to the checkpoint to pick up their daughter.

Two of the individuals in the truck, Francisco Vasquez-Santiago and Juan Carlos Vasquez-Santiago, told agents that their group had walked across the U.S. border through the desert and not through the port of entry. They walked to a trailer where they stayed until they were picked up by Boyd two days later. They said the defendant told the group to get into the vehicle, and they were going to pay $3,000 each to be smuggled into the U.S. and transported to their final destination, the complaint stated.

Boyd admitted to picking the group up in the desert and knowing they had entered the U.S. illegally. He said he had instructed two of the illegal immigrants to get into the bed of the truck and two to get into the cab of the truck behind the seat.

In a statement sent Sept. 16, Congressman Boyd said, "On Sept. 14, 2008, my 30-year-old son, John Boyd, was arrested in Arizona, and at a preliminary hearing yesterday, he was charged with alien smuggling."

"This is a family matter that my family and I will be dealing with privately. John is a grown man and must face the consequences for his actions, but he has the love and support of his family," says the elder Boyd.

The Democratic congressman, who is seeking a seventh term this November, is being challenged by Panama City Republican Mark Mulligan.