Judge Sentences Mexicans to Prison on Gun Charges

The U.S. Attorney's office in Phoenix says seven men from Mexico have been sentenced to prison for carrying guns during a violent crime.

All seven defendants had pleaded guilty to hostage taking.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton on Monday sentenced 23-year-old Oscar Daniel Hernandez-Juarez and 38-year-old Jaime Zamora-Martinez to 10 years in federal prison for using and carrying a firearm
during and in relation to a violent crime. The other five men received sentences of five to eight years in prison.

El Mirage police officers discovered 37 men and one woman dressed in their underwear crammed into a house in January. The bedroom windows of the house had been covered with boards.

Witnesses say the smugglers were holding them hostage at gunpoint until family members paid a ransom.