According to the DOJ, both Felipe Orduna Torres and Armando Gonzalez Ortega face life in prison in the June 27 sentence.
A federal ju judge on Tuesday was found guilty of two men’s roles in a 2022 tractor trailer human smuggling case in San Antonio, Texas, resulting in the deaths of 53 illegal immigrants and 11 injuries.
Felipe Orduna Torres, 30, and Armando Gonzalez Ortega, 55, conspired with a foreign smuggling organisation that transported 66 immigrants across the US-Mexican border on June 27, 2022, to bring death, physical injuries and Geopardi to life.
During the three-hour drive, illegal immigrants were packed into trailers without working air conditioning. The swelling heat left some of them unconscious, others clawing the walls in an attempt to escape from the trailer, the DOJ said, citing evidence presented at the trial.
When the trailer arrived in San Antonio, the driver opened it and found that 48 individuals had already died. Five more people died after being taken to hospital. Among the victims were six children and one pregnant woman.
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Orduna-Torres and Gonzalez-Ortega each faced life in prison with a sentence scheduled for June 27, the DOJ said.
The Epoch Times were unable to reach legal representatives immediately for comments.
An investigation by US and Guatemala law enforcement agencies has also led to the extradition of 48-year-old Ligoberto Ramon Orozco on suspicion of his role in a deadly smuggling operation. Miranda Orozco was arrested in Guatemala in August 2024.
Margaret Leachman, the lawyer for the Western Texas region, said his extradition marked a “big step” in dismantling the human smuggling organisation responsible for the case.
Five other suspects had previously pleaded guilty to felony charges in smuggling cases. Homero Zamorano JR. All five are scheduled to rule later this year, with another suspect remaining a fugitive.
The incident is the most deadly of recent tragedy involving human smuggling. Ten illegal immigrants died in 2017 after being trapped in a truck parked at Walmart in San Antonio. In 2003, the bodies of 19 illegal immigrants were found in a swelling truck in San Antonio.
Approximately 2,400 soldiers, including elements from the 2nd Striker Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division in Fort Carson, Colorado, joined the border security mission along with 500 soldiers from the 3rd Fighter Air Brigade from Fort Stewart, Georgia, according to the US Northern Command. It said it brought the total number of borders to around 9,000.
The Associated Press and Ryan Morgan contributed to this report.
