Arizona woman convicted of driving illegal immigrants across border

PHOENIX – A Stanfield woman has been convicted of transporting illegal immigrants from Mexico across the Arizona border earlier this year.

Prosecutors said Thursday that a federal jury in Phoenix found 51-year-old Renalda Bernice Ortega guilty after a two-day trial in U.S. District Court in Phoenix.

Ortega is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 9.

Evidence presented at trial showed that on Feb. 6, a U.S. Border Patrol agent spotted a vehicle that was being driven erratically in a remote area south of Stanfield.

Stanfield is about 50 miles south of Phoenix.

As the agent followed the vehicle, he saw three passengers jump out and run into the desert.

Authorities say the three people were illegal immigrants and Ortega had agreed to transport them across the border.