A federal grand jury on Monday indicted four men, including a part-owner of Plaza Extra Supermarket, on charges of smuggling illegal aliens into the United States.
The grand jury returned an 11-count indictment against Fathi Yusuf, 58, Ali Ahmad Yassin Abu-Soud Abu, 44, Abu Hussein, 41, Amjad Muhyeddin, 30 and Tallal Mustafa, 28, said James Hurd, U.S. attorney for the Virgin Islands district.
The charges include smuggling illegal aliens into the U.S., transporting an illegal alien within the country and encouraging illegal aliens to reside there.
On Aug. 12, federal law enforcement agencies raided the Plaza Extra and Lindbergh Bay supermarkets on St. Thomas and the St. Croix Plaza Extra. Six workers at the St. Thomas stores were subsequently arrested for not having valid employment authorization. Hurd said the workers arrested at the store will probably be deported. One person was also arrested on St. Croix for working illegally.
Yusuf, part owner of Plaza Extra and a businessman in the territory for more than 30 years, was arrested a day after the store raids as part of the same series of events.
The indictment alleges that between Jan. 7 and Feb. 25 of this year, the defendants brought illegal aliens to St. Thomas from St. Maarten. Hurd said that for a fee, Mustafa and Abu-Soud arranged a flight on Jan. 21 from St. Maarten to St. Thomas for three illegal aliens without being cleared by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
It is also alleged that Yusuf employed one of the illegal aliens at the Plaza Extra on St. Thomas and encouraged two others to reside in the U.S. by employing them at the store.
The indictment also alleges that on Feb. 24, Yusuf, Mustafa, Muhyeddin and another man charged the illegal alien for transportation between St. Thomas and Puerto Rico and that Mustafa provided the individual with false photo identification and an airline ticket to Florida.
The offenses of smuggling an illegal alien into the U.S., transporting an illegal alien within the country and encouraging him or her to remain there each carry a maximum term of 10 years in prison and maximum fine of $250,000.
The conspiracy charge carries a maximum of five years in prison. The crime of smuggling an alien into the country for commercial advantage or private gain has a minimum term of three years and a maximum of 10.
The men are currently free on bail, said Hurd, adding that he expects their arraignment to take place on Wednesday.
