Organization Thousands: Godofredo Rivas-Melendez and District Court

organization thousands: He pleaded innocent to the charges against him, according to CTV. On Monday, the 60-year-old Rivas, a Canadian citizen who was born in El Salvador, was ordered held pending trial. Court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Burlington say that Godofredo Rivas-Melendez was taken into custody on Oct. 1 in Champlain, N.Y., after being deported from Canada. An indictment says Rivas' organization specialized in smuggling people into the U.S. from Canada, sometimes in New York, but usually into Vermont. Rivas's attorney did not return a call seeking comment. People would pay the organization thousands of dollars to be smuggled into the United States. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.