A minivan driver who crashed and injured undocumented immigrants in Boulevard will be released June 1 from a residential re-entry program after she finished her 18-month federal prison term.
Ashley Alexandra Moreno, now 25, has been staying recently at a Long Beach residential re-entry program as part of the sentence U.S. District Court Judge John Houston recommended for 120 days after finishing her prison term.
Online records say the program provides employment counseling and other services in a supervised environment. Offenders pay a fee for the program’s cost.
The program “helps inmates gradually rebuild their ties to the community and facilitate supervising ex-offenders activities during this readjustment phase,” the online description says.
Moreno pleaded guilty to transporting an undocumented migrant and three counts of transporting others were dismissed.
A U.S. Border Patrol agent spotted Moreno picking up people who came out of brushy areas and got inside the blue minivan on Old Highway 80 near Boulevard. Moreno picked up speed and drove somewhat erratic. Agents attempted to pull her over, but she increased her speed until she lost control and overturned in the 1000 block of Shasta Way in Boulevard. Everyone was injured including herself.
Interviews with four people inside the minivan showed that they were going to pay between $7,000 to $8,000 for smuggling, court documents say.
Moreno admitted that she was going to be paid $500 for human smuggling. She told agents she panicked when she saw the Border Patrol vehicle.
“I have learned my lesson,” said Moreno at her Aug. 12, 2019, sentencing.
