PHOENIX -- Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas announced Sunday that the 500th defendant was prosecuted for human smuggling.

The law is the first of its kind in the country and holds human cargo accountable for their part in illegally entering into the United States.

"I've instituted what I call the county attorney's office's no amnesty policy in prosecuting illegal immigrants and what I mean by that is that in order to deter illegal immigration, our office requires that illegal immigration plead guilty, except in rare circumstance, plead guilty to a felony," Thomas said.

Currently, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has a 94 percent conviction rate and is the only law enforcement agency in the state making arrests for human smuggling.