21-year-old Phoenix man sentenced to 75 months for noncitizen smuggling resulting in death

TUCSON, Ariz. — Isaiah Lorenzo Brinkley, 21, of Phoenix, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash to 75 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Brinkley previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport noncitizens for profit, placing life in jeopardy and resulting in death.

On Jan. 26, 2020, Brinkley coordinated for G.J.H. to transport two undocumented noncitizens in exchange for payment. Late that evening, G.J.H. arrived at an immigration checkpoint on State Route 85 near Why, Arizona. Border patrol Agents referred G.J.H. to secondary inspection. Instead of handing over the keys to the vehicle, G.J.H. fled from the immigration checkpoint and crashed the vehicle. G.J.H. and the two passengers, both Colombian citizens, were ejected from the vehicle. G.J.H. and one of the passengers died at the scene.

For several weeks after the fatal crash, Brinkley continued to coordinate and engage in noncitizen smuggling for profit, oftentimes instructing or placing people in trunks of vehicles.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Customs and Border Protection’s U.S. Border Patrol conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca S. Garvey, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.

HSI is a directorate of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 special agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.