SCOTTSDALE, AZ (AZFamily) — A former employee of Scottsdale Unified School District is in custody after allegedly admitting to smuggling four people into the U.S.
Victor Michael Bobbett, of Scottsdale, was arrested Jan. 28 after the Tohono O’odham Police Department (TOPD) pulled him over on State Route 86 near Sells, Arizona.
Border Patrol agents were patrolling when they saw Bobbett’s SUV driving in the area, which they said is commonly used by smuggling organizations. According to court docs, after TOPD stopped the truck, Border Patrol agents responded, and Bobbett let them search his vehicle.
Court papers said agents found water bottles and blankets in the trunk, which the feds said were signs of a smuggling operation.
When questioned about what he was doing, Bobbett allegedly admitted he was there to transport four people illegally in the U.S.
Agents searched Bobbett’s phone and found pinned locations along a remote road and directions they say are consistent with human smuggling, according to the federal docs.
After waiving his Miranda rights, Bobbett reportedly told agents he saw a Snapchat story showing “a lot of cash” and messaged the user to ask how they made the money.
The person explained to Bobbett that they “needed drivers” and moved the conversation to WhatsApp. Court docs say Bobett was allegedly going to receive a total of $12,000 for transporting the four people.
Those recruiters then called Bobbett and told him they had a pickup near San Miguel, Arizona, and that he would be paid to drive people to Phoenix, per the documents.
Investigators said Bobbett understood the people he was picking up were “probably” in the United States illegally.
Bobbett drove from Phoenix to a grocery store near Interstate 19, where he got a location for the pickup area, documents say. The recruiters told him to park in the area, honk his horn one time and wait for the people he was transporting to approach his SUV.
Federal documents say that, along the way, he received several more pinned locations and got lost. He said his plan was to load two people in the back seat and two more in the trunk.
Bobbett was pulled over and arrested before completing the pickup.
His mug shot is not available because it is a federal case.
Scottsdale Unified School District told Arizona’s Family Bobbett was immediately placed on leave and has since resigned.
Full statement from Scottsdale Unified:
“The district is aware of the arrest of an employee on allegations involving the transportation of undocumented individuals for profit. We are fully cooperating with law enforcement. The employee was immediately placed on administrative leave and has subsequently resigned.
Victor Bobbett started working in the district 2/20/2018. All appropriate hiring processes were followed. He had a clean background check, finger print clearance card and reference checks.”
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