Two men have been convicted after the 2022 deaths of 53 migrants in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas.
On Thursday, March 18, officials confirmed that the two men had been convicted for their roles in the smuggling event, which also resulted in 11 people being injured.
A third man believed to be involved in the incident was also “extradited from Guatemala to the United States to face justice in the case.”
“These convictions and extradition represent the Justice Department’s commitment to prosecuting the leaders, organizers, and key facilitators of alien smuggling networks that bring people illegally — at significant risk to life — into the United States,” Supervisory Official Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said in a statement as a part of a press release shared by the Office of Public Affairs.
He added, “It is a powerful example of the crucial work of Joint Task Force Alpha, which has been enhanced and empowered to go after cartels and transnational criminal organizations and to eliminate the scourge of human smuggling and trafficking.”
Aerial view of tractor trailer on June 27, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas.
Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty
Per the release, Felipe Orduna-Torres, 30, and Armando Gonzalez-Ortega, 55, smuggled 66 migrants into a tractor-trailer, which didn’t have sufficient functioning air conditioning.
Charging the families $12,000 to $15,000, they then drove across the U.S.-Mexico border and on a Texas interstate, according to authorities.
Some migrants then lost consciousness as the temperature rose on June 27, 2022, while others are said to have clawed at walls as they tried to escape, per the release. When the tractor-trailer reached San Antonio, 48 migrants had died and another five died after being taken to local hospitals.
“Six children and a pregnant woman were among the deceased,” the release noted.
First responders surround the tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas. Eric Gay/AP/Shutterstock
“These defendants knew the air conditioning did not work. Nevertheless, they disregarded the danger,” Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman of the Western District of Texas said in a news conference, NBC News reported.
She added that Orduna-Torres was the organization’s leader inside the U.S., while Gonzales-Ortega acted as his “right-hand man.”
According to Reuters, Orduna-Torres and Gonzalez-Ortega were both convicted of four separate counts of smuggling resulting in death and injury. They also face up to life in prison at their sentencing, which is set to take place on June 27.
The Office of Public Affairs stated that Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco, 48, an alleged leader of a human Guatemala-based smuggling organization was extradited.
According to NBC News, five men previously pleaded guilty to felony charges in the human smuggling case, including the truck driver Homero Zamorano Jr. He reportedly faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Others who pleaded guilty include Christian Martinez, Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal, Riley Covarrubias-Ponce and Juan Francisco D’Luna Bilbao. All are set to be sentenced later this year.
The outlet reported that Leachman said another person charged in the U.S. remains a fugitive, while others have been arrested in Mexico and Guatemala.
