A 61-year-old Louisville, Ky., man was sentenced Friday to life in federal prison for transporting dozens of illegal immigrants in a scorching hot tractor-trailer, after which 10 people were found dead inside the truck last July, according to the Justice Department.
U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra of San Antonio sentenced James Matthew Bradley, Jr. to life in prison without parole, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Friday afternoon. Bradley had faced the death penalty.
The judge required Bradley turn over his tractor-trailer rig, $5,600 in U.S. currency, and a .38 caliber gun that were found in the truck’s cab.
“Smuggling illegal aliens into this country disregards both our laws and their safety. The defendant’s actions in this case led to the agonizing deaths of 10 people. Were it not for his actions, they might still be alive today,” Sessions said in a statement. “This case is a reminder of why the Trump administration and this Department of Justice have renewed our commitment to enforcing our criminal immigration laws and why we are going to continue to work to secure our borders.”
Bradley pleaded guilty on Oct. 16 to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death and one count of transporting aliens resulting in death.
Shortly after midnight on July 23, San Antonio police responded to a call from the Walmart on Interstate 35 and found the tractor-trailer behind the store. Police found Bradley asleep in the cab and 39 illegal immigrants in a trailer that did not have a working air conditioning unit.
Of the 39 people found in the truck, eight were found deceased and two later died from injuries sustained from being in the overheated trailer for a prolonged period. About 20 people were in serious condition and eight others who were diagnosed at the scene with heat stroke and dehydration were taken to local hospitals for treatment. Four of the 39 people were between the ages of 14 and 17, and they were not accompanied with a parent or guardian.
Bradley claimed he did not know there were as many as 40 illegal immigrants in the trailer and only made the discovery when he exited the truck to use the restroom.
Walmart video surveillance showed the truck driver getting people out of the truck and exchanging them to vehicles that would pull up. Between 70 and 200 illegal immigrants are believed to have boarded the truck with groups being released at different spots.
Some of the victims later told federal agents how they illegally crossed the Rio Grande River in Texas and were able to enter the country. The individual groups of illegal immigrants were brought together from stash houses they had been living in border towns and loaded onto the trailer Sunday.
In his October court appearance, he admitted to transporting the group from the Texas-Mexico border further into the U.S. for financial gain.
“Today’s sentencing of James Matthew Bradley Jr. brings some closure to a truly horrific and unnecessary tragedy that involved exploiting human cargo for pure greed,” Shane Folden, San Antonio-based U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge, said in a statement. “Not only were 10 lives lost, but many more were injured as a result of Bradley’s participation in this illegal scheme … On a daily basis, criminal networks conspire to smuggle, transport and harbor individuals for financial gain at the expense of others.”
A second individual, Pedro Silva Segura, pleaded guilty on March 8 to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death. Silva is a Mexican citizen who had been residing in Laredo, Texas, as of last July. He will be sentenced June 29 and faces life in federal prison.
