Arizona woman convicted of driving illegal immigrants across border
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Authorities say the three people were illegal immigrants and Ortega had agreed to transport them across the border.