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Fla. Congressman's Son Charged With Smuggling Immigrants

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By BILLY HOUSE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 16, 2008

WASHINGTON - The 30-year-old son of a Florida congressman was charged with smuggling illegal immigrants after federal authorities found people hidden in his truck during a border inspection Sunday in Arizona.

Rep. Allen Boyd, a Democrat from Monticello, in Florida's Panhandle, said today in a statement released by his office that the arrest of his son, John Finlayson Boyd, "is a family matter that my family and I will be dealing with privately."

"John is a grown man and must face the consequences for his actions, but he has the love and support of his family," Boyd says.

Authorities said two of the undocumented immigrants found in Boyd's truck told them they had agreed to pay $3,000 each to be smuggled into the United States.

At his initial appearance in federal court Monday, Boyd was held over for a detention hearing Wednesday in Tucson, said Sandy Raynor, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Arizona.

According to a criminal complaint outlining the accusations, John Boyd was driving his pickup Sunday near Wilcox, Ariz., when it was stopped for inspection at a Border Patrol checkpoint.

"At the primary inspection area, a Border Patrol K-9 alerted to the possible presence of illegal aliens in the bed of the truck," states the complaint.

The complaint states it was then that a Border Patrol agent approached the truck "and saw an individual hiding under a piece of plywood in the bed of the truck."

Boyd was asked to turn off the engine and climb out of his truck, the complaint states. Agents found "an unaccompanied 6-year-old female juvenile in the passenger seat who was not wearing a seat belt, along with two other individuals on the floorboard behind the front seat."

"Agents also found two more individuals hiding under the piece of plywood in the bed of the truck," the complaint states.

"The four individuals all admitted that they were not citizens or nationals of the United States and that they did not have permission to be in the United States legally," the complaint states.

The complaint says it was determined that the 6-year-old's parents had passed through the border checkpoint before Boyd's arrival. Agents were able to contact the girl's mother by using Boyd's cell phone, the complaint states. The parents returned to the checkpoint to pick her up.

Two men named in the complaint as also being found in the truck told agents that their group had crossed into the United States by walking through desert rather than through a border point of entry.

According to the complaint, they told agents they walked to a trailer where they stayed for two days until they were picked up by Boyd, who told them to get in the truck.

The said they had agreed to pay $3,000 each to be smuggled into the United States.

The complaint also states that during the stop, a Border Patrol canine alerted agents to the presence of narcotics in a console of the truck and that "agents found two plastic bags that contained several rocks of crystal methamphetamine, four unopened syringes, a spoon with white residue and burn marks on the bottom, and three knives."

A further search of the vehicle uncovered a Beretta pistol loaded with eight rounds of ammunition, and a spare magazine loaded with eight rounds of ammunition in a suitcase in the bed of the truck, according to the complaint.

Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@tampatrib.com or at 1 (202) 662-7673.

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