Six men have pleaded not guilty to smuggling following a voyage at sea that brought 228 Haitians to downtown Miami.

Prosecutors say the Haitian men intended to make a profit by charging for the trip aboard the 50-foot freighter which ran aground on Virginia Key after the Coast Guard chased it for two hours on Oct. 29.

After the ship reached shore, the scores of men, women and children who had been on board waded onto land, converging onto the Rickenbacker Causeway during rush hour and stopping traffic for hours as migrants begged startled motorists for rides.

The spectacle, which was broadcast live by local television stations, focused public attention on U.S. immigration policy just before the general election, particularly the different treatment afforded Cuban and non-Cuban illegal migrants who make it to shore in the United States.

The 229-count indictment carries a mandatory sentence of five years in federal prison if the defendants are convicted.

Defense Attorneys 'Surprised' By Profit Charge

Defense attorneys said they were surprised by the profit claim because passengers and federal agents have denied it. The indictment did not say how much passengers were charged and prosecutors had no comment leaving court.

Like others on the trip, boat mechanic Jean Eddy Louis "was coming to the United States seeking the American dream," said his attorney David O. Markus. "Instead he finds himself behind American bars."

Edner Dorvil has been named as the owner of the boat and organizer of the trip. Defense attorney Bernie Pastor said Dorvil's wife and two children were among the people who made the eight-day crossing that ended Oct. 29.

The indictment includes one smuggling conspiracy charge and 228 counts of alien smuggling that name all of the people caught, including five from the Dominican Republic.

The boat was chased for two hours by the Coast Guard to shallow waters off Virginia Key, a bridge away from Miami's downtown condo tower strip.

A few people are believed to have avoided arrest in the televised roundup that focused national attention on U.S. immigration policies just before the general election.

For nearly a year, the Bush administration had been holding all illegal Haitian aliens while releasing other nationalities into the community pending deportation to deter a feared mass migration for the hemisphere's most destitute nation.

That policy was changed last week to detain all non-Cubans, who are covered by a unique federal law guaranteeing their release if they reach U.S. shores.

The indictment charged that the boat picked up 208 Haitians at Chou Chou Bay, Haiti, 20 more at La Tori, Haiti, and five Dominicans along the way.

Most of the Haitians likely will be returned to their homeland, where people live on an average income of less than $2 a day. Eight have been detained as material witnesses, which allows them to stay in Miami as long as prosecutors want.