Woman pleads guilty to hiding smuggled immigrants at City Heights drop house

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

Dania Olivero, 51, was arrested Nov. 6 after neighbors called San Diego police reporting groups of people were being dropped off at her home on University Avenue near Winona 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, while the rest were Mexican, the complaint said.

Some of the immigrants told authorities they were locked inside a small shed in the backyard and were 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 this job at the request of a man she met at a bar, according to the complaint. She said she agreed to temporarily house them because she needed help paying her rent, the complaint said.

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 set bail at $30,000, but she remained in custody Thursday.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis