United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO TRANSPORTING ILLEGAL ALIENS

United States Attorney Richard B. Roper announced that Daylon Ray Owens pled guilty today before the Honorable Jorge A. Solis, United States District Judge, to an indictment charging him with transporting and harboring illegal aliens as well as possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Owens, age 63, of Kittrell, North Carolina, was arrested on October 3, 2006, at a truck stop in southeast Dallas and has been in custody since that time.

Owens admitted that he transported and harbored six aliens that had illegally entered the United States. On October 2, 2006, Owens picked up the aliens at a hotel in El Paso, Texas, and placed them in his trailer. Owens received money to transport and harbor these aliens and drove them to Dallas where he was stopped by law enforcement the following day after witnesses contacted police after seeing what appeared to be illegal aliens exiting the tractor/trailer. A subsequent search of the trailer revealed more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. Owen received the marijuana in El Paso and was to deliver it to an unknown individual in Miami, Florida.

Owens has agreed to forfeit his semi-truck and trailer to the Government.

Owens faces a maximum statutory sentence of 60 years imprisonment and up to a $2.5 million fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 4, 2007 by Judge Solis.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Dallas Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Juan Carlos Rodriguez.

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