Woman pleads guilty to hiding immigrants at San Diego drop house

A woman pleaded guilty in federal court in San Diego on Thursday to harboring an immigrant at her home for money, and admitted to knowing that 44 others hiding there also were in the country illegally.

Dania Olivero, 51, was arrested Nov. 6 after neighbors called police to report that groups of people were being dropped off at the home on University Avenue, according to the complaint.

Officers found numerous people inside, sitting nervously with unopened bottles of beer in front of them, the complaint said. Authorities then found others in the backyard. One of the immigrants was an unaccompanied minor, according to the plea agreement.

Two of the immigrants were from Guatemala, and the rest were Mexican. Some told authorities they had been locked inside a small shed in the backyard and held without access to a bathroom, lights or ventilation, the complaint said.

In the plea agreement, Olivero admitted that at least one of the immigrants paid $5,000 to $8,500 to cross illegally into the U.S., and that she housed them for a fee.

Olivero told Border Patrol agents after her arrest that she had been involved in human smuggling since 2014 and that she did so at the request of a man she met at a bar, according to the complaint. She said she agreed to temporarily house the immigrants because she needed help paying her rent.

A sentencing hearing has been set for March 13. Olivero is a Cuban living legally in the U.S. and could be deported because of her conviction.

A judge previously had set bail at $30,000, but Olivero remained in custody Thursday.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Davis writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune