District Court Judge Curtis V. Gomez sentenced Dieuseul “Jomei” Mompremier and Lamorthe Delva to 57 months imprisonment, five years supervised release and a $100 special assessment for their roles in a conspiracy to smuggle illegal aliens into the United States, a conspiracy that resulted in the death of eight people, according to U.S. Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe.
Sharpe and Angel Melendez, special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, made the announcement Thursday in a joint news release.
Mompremier, 43, and Delva, 46, have been incarcerated since their arrests on April 11. They were remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service to begin serving their sentences.
The two men each pleaded guilty to the first count of an indictment charging them with alien smuggling. Delva pleaded guilty on May 23 and Mompremier pleaded guilty on June 19.
According to court records, in December 2010, Mompremier, Delva, and Roro Edourre, 46, conspired with each other and additional coconspirators to smuggle illegal aliens from St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, to St. John. On Dec. 5, 2010, Edourre was captain on the vessel Jesus La, with approximately 33 passengers, most of them Haitian nationals, including men, women and children, when the vessel traveled from St. Maarten to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
While Edourre was transporting the illegal aliens, Mompremier and Delva waited in the U.S. Virgin Islands to pick up and transport the aliens upon their arrival in St. John. The U.S. Coast Guard spotted the vessel carrying Edourre and his passengers and attempted to intercept it. However, Edourre attempted to evade the Coast Guard. During the chase, Jesus La ran aground and sank near Tortola, BVI, resulting in the death of at least eight people, including four children.
Edourre, who was arrested and prosecuted for manslaughter in the British Virgin Islands, is serving a 10-year sentence for that conviction.
United States Attorney Sharpe commended the investigative work of ICE, HSI, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim L. Chisholm, who prosecuted the case.
