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A Mexican man involved in human smuggling was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Friday for holding some of his clients hostage at a Tucson home.

Jose Manuel Enriquez-Hernandez, 29, was convicted of conspiracy to commit hostage-taking, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona.

Illegal immigrants would contract with other members of the smuggling organization in Mexico to be brought to the United States, the release said.

On arriving in the U.S., they would be taken to a drop house in Tucson that was being overseen by Enriquez-Hernandez, the release said. Their clothes would be taken from them, and they would be told that the smuggling fee was raised.

The men were then held in a room with bars on the windows and a door that was locked from the outside. The immigrants' families were contacted and told their relatives would not be released until the higher fee was paid.

When the payment was made, the immigrants would be moved to their ultimate destinations, the release said.

The operation was busted March 28, 2007, when Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers found 15 illegal entrants trying to leave the home, the release said. Inside they found 20 more people, including Enriquez-Hernandez, who is a Mexican national.

One of the immigrants told agents he had been held there for three weeks.

Another defendant, Jesus Alejandro Hernandez-Padilla, was sentenced in February to three years in prison for transporting illegal immigrants.