BUFFALO – Federal authorities announced that Santos Hernandez-Perez, 36, of Mexico, who was convicted of unlawfully transporting undocumented workers within the United States, was sentenced to three years in prison. The sentence, which was above the recommended federal guidelines, was handed down in U.S. District Court in Buffalo

On February 10, 2012, Hernandez-Perez was in a vehicle with five undocumented workers from Mexico when they were stopped by the Niagara Country Sheriff's Department for traffic violations. The defendant was driving the men from Tucson, Arizona, to Barker, New York, where two of the workers were going to work on a farm. The other men were destined for North Carolina.  None of the individuals, including Hernandez-Perez, had permission to be in the United States.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Homeland Security Investigations.