Smuggling drugs and people: Local native pleads to bringing Honduran workers, 52 pounds of cocaine into U.S.
Dec. 9—A former Middle Taylor Township man admitted in federal court this week to heading a conspiracy to smuggle 52 pounds of cocaine and 23 Honduran migrants into the United States.
Carl Allison, 47, was originally indicted in 2022 after his boat, the "M/V Pop," was found adrift without fuel in the Gulf of Mexico, federal court documents show.
Prosecutors said the undocumented Hondurans and the cocaine were concealed inside the boat as part of a conspiracy that Allison and several co- conspirators used to supply workers for companies associated with Allison.
"The migrants each paid up to $20,000 to Allison or his co-conspirators to be smuggled into the United States," federal Department of Justice officials wrote in a release to media. "Allison and his co-conspirators placed them in factories and other businesses knowing that the migrants lacked authorization to enter, remain, or work in the United States."
Allison's current address is listed as Pittsburgh. His LinkedIn account shows he has a background in manufacturing and operates an Irwin-based company called Dynamic Capacity Group, which the Department of Justice said operated to recruit and train people for factory work.
Prosecutors said the illegal enterprise operated for three years before the boat carrying the 23 Honduran nationals was found by the U.S. Coast Guard in February 2022.
It was stranded after a storm at sea, drifting more than 90 miles off the coast from its Louisiana destination point, authorities said.
A 2022 indictment, which named Allison as the lead defendant in the case, also included charges against seven other people — three of whom are Honduran natives.
The document alleged the group took cellphones from the Hondurans to prevent their phones from being GPS-tracked and gave them fake stories to provide to authorities, threatening to "hurt their families" if they did not cooperate.
According to court documents filed Thursday in the Eastern District of Louisiana, Allison pleaded guilty to two federal counts this week. They include conspiracy to conduct international human smuggling and conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Allison faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, although sentencing can vary based on past criminal history — if any — and other factors. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 28.
