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Four people have been indicted by federal grand juries in connection to a human smuggling operation that led to the deaths of 53 migrants found inside an abandoned tractor-trailer near San Antonio, Texas.
Homero Zamorano, 46, of Pasadena, and Christian Martinez, 28, of Palestine, were indicted by a jury in San Antonio and charged with one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death, one count of transportation of illegal aliens resulting in death, one count of conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy, and one count of transportation of illegal aliens resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy.
TWO OF FOUR PEOPLE CHARGED IN FATAL TEXAS MIGRANT SMUGGLING CASE COULD FACE DEATH PENALTY
Zamorano was identified as the driver of the tractor-trailer using surveillance footage at an immigration checkpoint, the Department of Justice said. Martinez was found to have communicated with Zamorano about the smuggling operation after officials executed a search warrant on Zamorano’s cellphone.
They face maximum sentences of life in prison or the death penalty if convicted of the most serious charges levied against them.
Juan Claudio D’Luna-Mendez, 23, and Juan Francisco D’Luna-Bilbao, 48, both Mexican citizens, were also indicted by a federal grand jury in San Antonio on one count each of possession of a firearm while unlawfully present in the United States.
D’Luna-Mendez and D’Luna-Bilbao were charged the same day the migrants were found after the license on the tractor-trailer was registered to a home in San Antonio. They both face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Officials found 64 people at the scene of a drug smuggling incident on June 27, some still inside the trailer, some on the ground and in the nearby brush, “many of them deceased and some of them incapacitated,” the DOJ said.
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Many suffered from heat-related complications after they were confined to the back of a suffocating container lacking air conditioning when the temperature outside hit triple digits that day.
