Cuban woman sentenced to 7.5 years for fatal smuggling that killed 16

Yaquelin Dominguez-Nieves, a 26-year-old Cuban woman, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison by a Miami federal court for her involvement in a human smuggling operation that resulted in the deaths of 16 Cuban migrants, many of whom were children. The smuggling trip, organized by Dominguez-Nieves and her boyfriend, involved a small, overcrowded fishing boat that sank 30 miles into the Florida Straits, leaving only two survivors. Dominguez-Nieves had collected around $11,500 from the migrants' families, promising a safe journey to the U.S. Despite the tragic outcome, her boyfriend, who reportedly orchestrated the voyage from Cuba, remains at large. Dominguez-Nieves was in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend, which reportedly influenced her participation in the smuggling operation. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle aliens resulting in death, leading the judge to impose a sentence higher than federal guidelines due to the offense's severity.