Homero Zamorano Jr. admitted to his role in the June 2022 incident where 53 migrants died after being left in a sweltering trailer in San Antonio. He faces life in prison.
An East Texas man has pleaded guilty for his role in a 2022 human smuggling incident that resulted in the deaths of 53 migrants who were left locked inside a trailer in San Antonio during the summer. Federal court documents accused Homero Zamorano Jr. , of Elkhart, of driving a semi-truck carrying 66 migrants in a malfunctioning refrigeration trailer from Laredo to San Antonio on June 27, 2022. He then allegedly abandoned them to die.
Zamorano appeared Thursday morning with his attorneys in San Antonio federal court before U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia, who will sentence him in April for two counts of conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants resulting in death, and one count of conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants resulting in serious injury. Zamorano faces up to life in prison on the counts related to the deaths, and up to 20 years for the charge resulting in serious bodily injury, Garcia said Thursday. Federal officials confirmed that Border Patrol agents waved the vehicle through a checkpoint on Interstate 35 in Laredo without looking inside. At some point during the trip to San Antonio, the cooling system inside the trailer malfunctioned. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Fuchs stated that the trailer was locked from the outside, and none of the occupants could escape. By the time the rig was left on a lonely portion of Quintana Road on the Southwest Side of San Antonio, dozens of immigrants were dead, and others were dying from the excessive heat. In the end, 53 migrants died from hyperthermia. Federal officials have declared this incident the deadliest human smuggling attempt in the nation's history. Eleven immigrants survived. It remains unclear when Zamorano decided to accept a plea agreement. In September, Zamorano's public defender, Jose Gonzalez-Falla, had filed a motion blaming the government for the tragedy and asking the court to dismiss the smuggling charges. In the document, Gonzalez-Falla cited 'outrageous government conduct' and argued that federal agents could have dismantled the smuggling ring. 'This tragedy was easily preventable had the government simply acted on information it had in its possession for months leading up to the tragedy,' Gonzalez-Falla wrote in the motion. 'This neglect was inexcusable and outrageous.' Zamorano and six others were charged in the incident. Five have pleaded guilty, and two others await trial
HUMAN SMUGGLING MIGRANTS TEXAS DEATHS TRAGEDY LAREDO SAN ANTONIO HOMERO ZAMORANO JR. FEDERAL COURT
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