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Canadian Cab Driver Gets 16 Months In Prison For Smugglers Tunnel

DETROIT (AP) - A Canadian cab driver looked to make some extra cash helped desperate immigrants to cross the border into the US using a railroad tunnel under the Detroit River.

Juan Garcia-Jimenez was sentenced to 16 months in a US prison on Monday.

The 53-year-old, Guatemalan born, Canadian citizen wept in US federal court when the judge announced his sentence. Garcia-Jimenez was also fined $8,680, the amount nine people paid to enter the Detroit last year.

The 1.6-mile tunnel is used by cargo trains moving between Ontario, Canada, and the United States. Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Fairchild said it's risky: A walkway is only 17 inches (43.1 centimeters) wide and in poor condition.

"They just walked right through the tunnel, which is a very dangerous thing," said Kris Grogan, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "There is zero room. If a train would have come through there they would have been killed."

Garcia-Jimenez would drop people off at a tunnel entrance in Windsor and drive away.

"Countless aliens could have illegally entered the United States with his assistance," Fairchild said in a court filing.

Immigrants who were arrested on four different occasions identified Garcia-Jimenez as the man who helped them in Canada. He was arrested last August while trying to enter Detroit to celebrate his wedding anniversary.

"I am sorry for what I have done," Garcia-Jimenez told U.S. District Judge Stephen Murphy III.

© 2019 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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