Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.18.2008 PHOENIX — Immigrants who hire coyotes to get them into the United States can be prosecuted under a state law aimed at the smugglers, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled Thursday. In the first decision of its kind in the state, the judges rebuffed the comments of state Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, one of the architects of the 2005 legislation, that the law was never designed to go after the immigrants themselves. Judge Lawrence Winthrop, writing for the court, said it is possible that Paton may have intended that the migrants be considered the victims of the crime of human smuggling. "This does not mean that either Rep. Paton or the Legislature intended to prevent the person smuggled from being punished for fueling the practice by paying to be smuggled, and thus engaging in a conspiracy...
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