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by Brian Andrews
KEY WEST (CBS4 News) ― Three men suspected of leading a deadly migrant smuggling operation were charged with Smuggling Resulting In Death Monday afternoon, at an appearance in Federal court in Key West.

CBS4's Brian Andrews reports prosecutors charged Rolando Gonzalez-Delgado, Heinrich Castillo-Diaz and Yamil Gonzalez-Rodriguez, all reported to be residents of Monroe County, in the alleged smuggling of a boatload of migrants from Cuba. The men have been in custody since Saturday, after the boat was stopped at sea by the US Coast Guard.

US Magistrate Judge Lurana Snow presided over the hearing.

According to evidence presented at the hearing, Coast Guard officers say the intercepted vessel was traveling at over 40 knots during the incident.

The officers reportedly chased the boat for 45 minutes before they stopped it 5 nautical miles off Boca Chica, near Key West. When the boat was secured they noticed that a female passenger was unconscious and bleeding profusely. According to officers, she was taken by boat to the Key West Coast Guard Base, where she was treated in an ambulance. The woman died on the way to a Key West hospital.

According to the three suspects, the U.S. Coast Guard rammed the migrant boat first while Coast Guard officials contend the migrant boat was at fault for the aggressive action. They maintain their innocence and blame the Coast Guard for the death of a woman and injuries to others. Authorities say four other people, including a pregnant woman, were injured during the incident.

The pregnant woman was later released to her family in Miami. She and her unborn child were not hurt.

The condition of the other three injured men is not known.

If convicted, prosecutors say the 3 could receive up to 5 years in a Federal prison. Federal prosecutors say the men are residents of Monroe County, but it's unknown if they are U.S. citizens at this time.

Outside the offices of the Democracy Movement in Miami Monday, family members of the victims and migrants who were on the vessel during the incident spoke out. "The Coast Guard got closer saying we better stop or they would kill us," Juliet Escandon, the pregnant woman who was injured during Saturday's smuggling attempt, said Monday.

The Democracy Movement's Ramon Saul Sanchez, urged Congress to reconsider its wet foot/dry foot policy saying that if the conditions in Cuba were favorable, these migrants and many others would not flee their country.

The 36-foot Carerra traveling four miles south of Boca Chica was found speeding through the waters near Islamorada without navigation lights and ignoring numerous orders to stop. A crewman from one of the two pursuing Coast Guard boats shot one of the three engines of the fleeing vessel in an attempt to stop it and rescue the migrants.

Once on board Coast Guard officials found several migrants who had sustained injuries. One pregnant woman was transported to shore for further medical treatment and three other men with minor injuries received medical treatment from doctor on the scene and remained aboard the Coast Guard vessel.

During the intercept, the suspected smugglers allegedly used their vessel to attempt to ram the Coast Guard vessel more than five times according to Coast Guard authorities. After the operator refused to stop the boat, a specially trained and qualified Coast Guard law enforcement officer fired the two rounds into one of the engines and officials report no migrants received injuries as a result of the disabling fire.

"These ruthless smugglers recklessly placed these people in harm's way by operating at high rates of speed in seas of up to four feet, by operating without navigational lights, by ignoring repeated orders to stop and by grossly overloading the vessel," said Capt. Phil Heyl, Commander of Coast Guard Sector Key West. "There was no way for these people to brace themselves against the impact of the boat slamming into the rough seas,"

"This was a horrific voyage for these migrants and has resulted in a tragedy," said Capt. Heyl." The family and friends of the dead woman have our deepest sympathy."

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