A federal grand jury on St. Thomas has returned a six-count indictment against two former Delta Airlines reservations and passenger service agents and a luggage handler at the Cyril E. King Airport for smuggling undocumented immigrants into the country.
The indictment charges Diana Telemaque, 33, Felicia Browne, 22, and Daniel Confidente, 47, with both conspiracy to smuggle and actually smuggling undocumented immigrants into the United States over a period of time spanning from about May 2008 through July 19 of this year. Telemaque is charged with five counts, Confidente with four and Browne with three, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
All three were arrested Friday and advised of their rights by the federal magistrate judge. Each was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond. According to court documents filed in this case, the defendants used their positions as reservations and passenger service agents and as a curbside baggage handler to sell passage on a commercial aircraft to undocumented immigrants, and to assist them in bypassing the Customs and Immigration checkpoint and board Delta Airlines flights to the United States.
If convicted, Telemaque, Browne and Confidente face a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count. All three defendants also face criminal forfeiture of the proceeds of their offenses, meaning the court can confiscate any money the three made by breaking the law.
