Bobcat
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BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
alinhardt@keysnews.com
A convicted drug smuggler caught by federal agents in a go-fast boat 11 miles south of Key West last week was attempting to smuggle two Cuban baseball players into Mexico, according to court records.
Little information of the government's case against defendant Juan Carlos Rivas was made public when a four-page complaint was filed stating that Rivas was stopped Friday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.
The names of the baseball players, their ages or skill level was not stated in court documents.
The Coast Guard and CBP agents had been surveilling a boat with three outboard engines first spotted on April 21 at 11 p.m. about three miles north of Cuba. Both agencies intermittently continued to watch the boat over the next three days before stopping it while heading toward the United States, records state.
CBP agents reportedly saw someone on the boat throw something overboard, which was retrieved and turned out to be a GPS unit, records state. There were two people onboard, Rivas and an unidentified person.
A search of the boat reportedly turned up a large amount of food and a fuel transfer pump.
Agents used fingerprints to identify the operator of the boat as Rivas, who previously had been convicted of drug trafficking in December 2004, records state.
Rivas was also ordered to be removed from the U.S. after that conviction, but it appears he never left or at least not in a manner consistent with the judge's order, records state.
His home nation was not stated in court records made available.
What information was released was not clear, but documents stated that the government believes Rivas therefore was attempting to illegally re-enter the U.S. on Friday when he was stopped by the agents.
Whether he had been in the U.S. since 2004 illegally or had since left and returned at a later date was not stated.
His first appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jurana Snow was held Friday in which U.S. Assistant Public Defender Stewart Abrams was assigned to the case.
Abrams filed paperwork on Wednesday stating Rivas has invoked his right to silence. The next court hearing was scheduled for May 11 at the federal courthouse on Simonton Street in Key West.
Rivas is being held at the Monroe County Detention Center on Stock Island in lieu of $250,000 bond.
He has yet to be indicted.
alinhardt@keysnews.com
alinhardt@keysnews.com
A convicted drug smuggler caught by federal agents in a go-fast boat 11 miles south of Key West last week was attempting to smuggle two Cuban baseball players into Mexico, according to court records.
Little information of the government's case against defendant Juan Carlos Rivas was made public when a four-page complaint was filed stating that Rivas was stopped Friday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.
The names of the baseball players, their ages or skill level was not stated in court documents.
The Coast Guard and CBP agents had been surveilling a boat with three outboard engines first spotted on April 21 at 11 p.m. about three miles north of Cuba. Both agencies intermittently continued to watch the boat over the next three days before stopping it while heading toward the United States, records state.
CBP agents reportedly saw someone on the boat throw something overboard, which was retrieved and turned out to be a GPS unit, records state. There were two people onboard, Rivas and an unidentified person.
A search of the boat reportedly turned up a large amount of food and a fuel transfer pump.
Agents used fingerprints to identify the operator of the boat as Rivas, who previously had been convicted of drug trafficking in December 2004, records state.
Rivas was also ordered to be removed from the U.S. after that conviction, but it appears he never left or at least not in a manner consistent with the judge's order, records state.
His home nation was not stated in court records made available.
What information was released was not clear, but documents stated that the government believes Rivas therefore was attempting to illegally re-enter the U.S. on Friday when he was stopped by the agents.
Whether he had been in the U.S. since 2004 illegally or had since left and returned at a later date was not stated.
His first appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jurana Snow was held Friday in which U.S. Assistant Public Defender Stewart Abrams was assigned to the case.
Abrams filed paperwork on Wednesday stating Rivas has invoked his right to silence. The next court hearing was scheduled for May 11 at the federal courthouse on Simonton Street in Key West.
Rivas is being held at the Monroe County Detention Center on Stock Island in lieu of $250,000 bond.
He has yet to be indicted.
alinhardt@keysnews.com
