A U.S. Forest Service employee was indicted last week on federal charges of smuggling undocumented migrants in Cochise County, the second time this year he has faced such charges.
Juan Antonio Corella, 35, who until recently was also a firefighter with the Sunnyside Volunteer Fire Department near Douglas, was accused of picking up three migrants in his Forest Service truck on Jan. 8, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Tucson.
The arrest came after a Border Patrol agent watching surveillance video at the Douglas station saw a Forest Service truck make several U-turns and then stop on the side of Paul Spur Road, about 11 miles north of Douglas, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations wrote in a Feb. 4 sworn affidavit filed with a request for a warrant to search Corella’s phone.
The rear passenger door was pushed open from the inside, signaling three migrants from Mexico to run out of the brush and into the vehicle, the agent wrote.
The vehicle had Forest Service markings on its sides, an emergency light bar on the roof, and government license plates.
In the passenger seat was Israel Perieda, who reportedly told agents he opened the rear door of the truck for the migrants to enter, the agent wrote.
Corella drove back onto Arizona 80 toward Douglas once the migrants were inside, the agent wrote.
When he noticed several Border Patrol vehicles chasing him, Corella stopped the car and told them to get out, Perieda said. Perieda also was indicted on human smuggling charges.
The migrants exited the vehicle and ran toward the brush, where they were apprehended without incident.
Perieda reportedly told agents he was unaware of the plan to pick up the three migrants, the agent wrote.
He also claimed that Corella received directions from someone over the phone on where to go to while driving.
Perieda was also a volunteer firefighter with the Sunnyside Volunteer Fire District, the Douglas Dispatch reported.
Perieda was suspended by the department after his arrest.
Corella was indicted Feb. 26 on a separate charge stemming from an arrest three weeks later, on Jan. 30.
In the incident, Corella is accused of picking up five migrants, this time in a personal vehicle, from a stash house.
Border Patrol agents pulled him over near Sulphur Springs Valley, north of Willcox, according to a criminal complaint.
After agents asked for identification of all passengers, Corella stated that all five of them, including a minor, were undocumented.
After crossing into the United States illegally, the migrants were directed to a house where they were later picked up by Corella in a red Dodge truck, according to the complaint.
Corella refused to provide further information during questioning and did not give consent for officials to search his phone.
Immediately upon learning of Corella’s second arrest, the Sunnyside Volunteer Fire District removed him as a volunteer engine boss, according to the department’s website.
The district is cooperating with authorities investigating “whether there might be other volunteers involved” in human smuggling. District officials said they have seen “no evidence that any of its equipment was used in the alleged acts that led to Mr. Corella’s arrest.”
Corella’s lawyer did not respond to an inquiry from the Star.
Corella had been a volunteer with the fire district for two years and Perieda for nine years, Interim Chief Victor Rodriguez said. They are no longer volunteers with the district.
Corella is scheduled to go to trial next month on the charges stemming from the Jan. 8 arrest. His trial for the Jan. 30 arrest is scheduled for April.
UPDATE: This story was updated March 5 with information from Sunnyside Volunteer Fire District Interim Chief Victor Rodriguez.
