Two Mexican citizens are found guilty of their role in the most deadly human smuggling event in American history.
Felipe Orduna Torres and Armando Gonzalez Ortega are now facing life in prison. Their verdict will take place on June 27th, the third anniversary of the crime. Fox 29 Report.
The two were charged in 2022 after 53 immigrants died behind a swelling tractor trailer without air conditioning in San Antonio.
It only took about an hour for a ju judge in federal court in San Antonio to convict Ordona Torres and Gonzalez Ortega. The trial lasted for two weeks.
San Antonio immigrant death: Four more people arrested on suspicion of human trafficking operations that left 53 deaths
Felipe Orduna Torres and Armando Gonzalez Ortega are found guilty of their role in the most deadly human smuggling event in American history. (Eric Gay, US lawyer for the Western District of Texas)
“It was the same as 53 people died,” according to Fox 29, the judge who presides over the trial said of the sentencing date.
The immigrants included 27 from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, 7 from Guatemala, and 2 from two El Salvador. The deaths included six children and one pregnant woman, according to the Associated Press. According to the charges in the case obtained by the Associated Press, they had paid between $12,000 and $15,000 each to be smuggled into the United States.
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Police and other first responders are working at the scene that dozens of people have died and several other people have been taken to hospitals with fever-related illnesses after a semi-trailer with suspected immigration was discovered in San Antonio on Monday, June 27, 2022. (Eric Gay, File)
Orduna-Torres was one of the leaders of the smuggling business, and Gonzales-Ortega was described as the coordinator.
The ju judge discovered that he had committed all charges. A conspiracy to transport aliens causes death, serious injuries and puts them in danger. The transport of illegal aliens that brings death. and transporting illegal aliens who have been seriously injured and at risk.
Police blocked the scene where a multi-corpse semi-trailer was found in San Antonio on Monday, June 27, 2022. (Eric Gay, File)
Five men previously pleaded guilty to a felony in a smuggling case. It was found to be hidden near several bush trailers, including truck driver Homelo Zamorano Jr. He faces the biggest life sentence in prison. Christian Martinez, Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal, Riley Covarrubias-Ponce and Juan Francisco D'Luna Bilbao have also pleaded guilty. All five will be sentenced later this year. Another person charged in the US remains a fugitive, Leachman said. Several others have been charged in Mexico and Guatemala.
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“This case illustrates why we all have to be careful. Human smuggling is dehumanisation. It is dangerous and fatal. Smuggling victims are often subject to rape, trickery, forced, forced, exploitation, etc. Our determination in addressing these crimes is, “Matthew Gagliotti has a prime minister in the criminal sector.”
Louis Casiano and the Associated Press of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
