Bond set for government-contract employee accused in smuggling attempt
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A woman charged in a human smuggling scheme involving a charter bus remains in federal custody Tuesday.
Bond for Nancy Fernandez Luna was set at $50,000 in federal court.
Luna was one of two people arrested on Friday after Border Patrol agents said they found 39 undocumented migrants at a charter bus at the Falfurrias checkpoint.
Juan Torres Ayala, who was identified as the driver of the charter bus in the criminal complaint, is being detained without bond pending his trial, federal court records show.
According to the complaint, Luna was in the charter bus with Ayala and the migrants. She was identified as a government contract employee for MVM, a government contract transport company.
PREVIOUS STORY: Records: Government-contracted employee arrested after attempting to illegally transport 39 migrants in charter bus
At the Falfurrias checkpoint, Luna told Border Patrol agents she worked with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and was escorting COVID-positive undocumented juveniles, the criminal complaint stated.
While inspecting the charter bus, Border Patrol agents contacted the Centralized Processing Center, who said they had no transport buses in operation at the time. The complaint also noted that the undocumented migrants on the bus were not juveniles.
After they were detained, Ayala provided a statement saying he was being paid $1,800 to illegally transport the migrants, the complaint said.
Ayala and Luna appeared in federal court on Tuesday, where it was revealed both are in a relationship.
Luna will be released on bond after meeting several conditions, such as avoiding contact with Ayala and not traveling to Mexico or outside the Southern District of Texas, and be on house arrest with a GPS monitor.
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