Two smugglers convicted successful the deaths of 53 migrants successful a sweltering motortruck successful Texas look sentencing connected Friday
SAN ANTONIO -- Two smugglers convicted of national charges successful transportation with the deaths of 53 migrants found successful the backmost of a sweltering tractor-trailer successful Texas successful 2022 look up to beingness successful situation erstwhile they are scheduled to beryllium sentenced Friday.
Felipe Orduna-Torres and Armando Gonzales-Ortega are to beryllium the archetypal of respective defendants sentenced successful the San Antonio tragedy, which remains the nation's deadliest quality smuggling effort crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. A assemblage convicted the men successful March of being portion of a quality smuggling conspiracy that resulted successful decease and injury.
Prosecutors described Orduna-Torres arsenic the person of the smuggling cognition wrong the U.S. and Gonzales-Ortega arsenic his apical assistant.
The immigrants had travel from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico and had paid betwixt $12,000 and $15,000 each to beryllium smuggled into the United States, according to an indictment successful the case. They had made it arsenic acold arsenic the Texas borderline metropolis of Laredo erstwhile they were placed into a tractor-trailer with breached aerial conditioning for a three-hour thrust to San Antonio.
As the somesthesia roseate wrong the trailer, those wrong screamed and banged the walls of the trailer for assistance oregon tried to claw their mode out, investigators said. Most yet passed out. When the trailer was opened successful San Antonio, 48 radical were already dead. Another 16 were taken to hospitals, wherever 5 much died. The dormant included six children and a large woman.
Investigators said the Orduna-Torres and Gonzales-Ortega worked with quality smuggling operations successful Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, and shared routes, guides, stash houses, trucks and trailers. Orduna-Torres provided the code successful Laredo wherever they would beryllium picked up, and Gonzalez-Ortega met them there.
Five different men antecedently pleaded blameworthy to felony charges successful the smuggling case, including the motortruck operator Homero Zamorano Jr., who was recovered hiding adjacent the trailer successful immoderate bushes. Zamorano faces up to beingness successful situation erstwhile sentenced successful December. The different defendants are scheduled to beryllium sentenced aboriginal this year.
The incidental is the deadliest among tragedies that person claimed thousands of lives successful caller decades arsenic radical effort to transverse the U.S. borderline from Mexico. Ten immigrants died successful 2017 aft they were trapped wrong a motortruck parked astatine a Walmart store successful San Antonio. In 2003, the bodies of 19 immigrants were recovered successful a sweltering motortruck southeast of San Antonio.
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