Haitian man gets 13 years for fatal smuggling trip

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- A Haitian man has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for helping run a smuggling voyage that ended when the boat capsized, killing at least nine people.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Mara sentenced 33-year-old Jean Morange Nelson on Thursday after survivors of the May 2009 sinking testified they had been promised a safe and comfortable journey.

Instead, more than 25 people were crammed onto the boat. It lost power and capsized off the South Florida coast.

Nelson's attorney had asked for leniency, saying the former teacher had a clean record.

The boat's captain is scheduled to be sentenced Friday.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)