Haitian smuggler appears in court
May 20, 2009
A Haitian national accused in an alien smuggling operation that left nine people dead last week in the waters off Palm Beach County is scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court in West Palm Beach at 10 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Jimmy Metellus, 33, is charged with alien smuggling resulting in death. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators say he was hired by four men in the Bahamas and agreed to make the trip for free to escape hardships in Haiti.
The smugglers were allegedly paid thousands of dollars for the journey, which was supposed to go from Nassau to Bimini and then to the shores of Miami.
The Miami Herald (FL)
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