Deming man sentenced in illegal immigration case

DEMING, N.M. (AP) — A Deming man has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for conspiring to illegally transport several people into the U.S.

Federal prosecutors say 30-year-old Steven Kasey Dupree must also serve three years of supervised release for his conviction. He pleaded guilty last year.

Prosecutors say Dupree and a co-conspirator worked with others to transport seven people across the U.S.-Mexico border and into southern New Mexico.

Border Patrol agents went to Dupree’s home on Feb. 7, 2012, and found three people who were in the country illegally. Two of them reported paying $1,800 each to be smuggled across the border and transported to Albuquerque.

The agents also learned that Dupree had left earlier that day to transport four more from his home to Phoenix.