By STACY MILLBERG - Staff Writer - smillberg@starbeacon.com
SAYBROOK TOWNSHIP — Fourteen illegal immigrants were turned over to U.S. Border Patrol Thursday after a routine traffic stop.
Just before 4 p.m. Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers stopped a 2000 Chevrolet van for following too close on Interstate 90 near the Route 45 Interchange. The driver of the vehicle, Miguel Matias, 22, produced a counterfeit Alabama state identification card, said OHP Lt. Mike Harmon.
“He did not have a driver’s license,” he said. “It was just like an ID card he bought off the streets. We don’t even know if that’s his real name.”
Further investigation revealed, Matias, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was transporting 13 Mexican immigrants from Mesa, Ariz. to New York City, Harmon said.
“They paid (Matias) $400 a person to take them to New York City,” he said.
The state seized $5,442 from Matias and the van is being held at OHP’s Ashtabula Post until the owner can be located.
“We can’t get a hold of the owner,” Harmon said. “We contacted the Mesa Police Department and they went to the address the car was registered to, but the residents said they’ve never heard of the person the car is registered to.”
If the vehicle owner cannot be located, Harmon said the car will be donated to a law enforcement agency for an undercover vehicle.
Matias and his 13 passengers were transported to the OHP post where they were held until officials from the United States Border Patrol picked them up Thursday.
