Another pleads guilty to smuggling

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (CMC):

Federal law-enforcement officials here said a second man has pleaded guilty in connection with last year's disastrous smuggling operation that cost at least nine Haitians their lives.

Prosecutors said that Jimmy Metellus, 33, the captain of the boat that sunk off Palm Beach County's coast last May with at least 25 people aboard, pleaded guilty to 22 counts of smuggling, including nine charges of smuggling that resulted in death. He will be sentenced in federal court here on September 3.

Metellus's co-defendant, Jean Morange Nelson, 33, pleaded guilty earlier this month. At that plea hearing, federal prosecutors said they will recommend that he receive a seven- to nine-year prison sentence.

But US District Judge Kenneth Marra said Nelson could be sent to prison for life when he is sentenced on August 20.

Metellus also faces a possible life sentence, although the plea deal indicates prosecutors will seek a less severe punishment.

While his plea agreement is similar to the one Nelson took, prosecutors said Metellus should be treated more harshly because he was the captain of the boat.

They also said they would recommend he receive the maximum sentence within the federal sentencing guidelines.