AZMEX I3 10-1-19

AZMEX I3 10 JAN 2019


Two plead guilty in case of 18 migrants locked in refrigerated trailer
Nogales International Jan 9, 2019 Updated Jan 9, 2019

https://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/two-plead-guilty-in-case-of-migrants-locked-in-refrigerated/article_6e17d7c8-12be-11e9-96ae-5bf36078d243.html

Trailer
An X-ray of a trailer conducted at the Interstate 19 checkpoint revealed 18 people – 16 from Mexico and two from Guatemala – riding inside.
Border Patrol photo


Two men involved in a human-smuggling attempt in which 18 undocumented immigrants were found locked in a refrigerated trailer have pleaded guilty to federal charges.

Jesus Lopez, a 31-year-old U.S. citizen who transported five of the passengers to the pick-up site, and Alberto Gastelum Mercado, a 47-year-old Mexican national who drove the tractor-trailer involved in the crime, both pleaded guilty at U.S. District Court in Tucson on Nov. 16, court records show.

Lopez pleaded guilty to transportation of illegal aliens for profit and faces up to 33 months in federal prison when he's sentenced on March 8. Gastelum faces up to 57 months behind bars after pleading guilty to conspiracy to transport illegal aliens for profit. His sentencing is set for March 4.


According to information contained in the defendants' criminal complaints and plea agreements, on Oct. 22, 2018, Lopez drove a maroon Chevrolet Equinox registered in his name to a corner of a truck stop's parking lot on the north end of Nogales, where he dropped off several people who then ran into the surrounding brush.

Border Patrol agents who were monitoring the scene reportedly also saw a white Lincoln SUV, white Dodge Caravan and black Jeep Renegade drive into the same corner and drop off people who dashed into the brush.

Agents then saw a white 2014 Volvo semi-truck back into a parking spot in the same location, then pull out and head north on Interstate 19.

When it reached the Border Patrol checkpoint near Tubac, agents sent the truck for a secondary inspection and an X-ray scan showed the silhouettes of people inside the trailer. Agents used bolt cutters to open the cargo door and discovered 18 undocumented immigrants – 16 from Mexico and two from Guatemala – inside the refrigerated trailer, where the temperature was cooled to 36 degrees.

According to the court documents, Lopez transported five of the immigrants to the truck stop in Nogales. When interviewed by investigators, four described being dropped off at the truck stop in a red SUV that matched the description of Lopez's vehicle. Two said the driver had a marijuana leaf tattooed on the back of his head – which matched a tattoo Lopez had – and they also picked him out of a photo lineup.

It wasn't clear whether the drivers of the other vehicles seen dropping people off at the truck stop were ever arrested.

In a post-arrest interview, Gastelum, the driver of the tractor-trailer, reportedly said he had been offered $500 per person to transport undocumented immigrants. He admitted to putting a customs seal on his trailer after loading it with the 18 people and said someone in another vehicle was supposed to meet him on the way to California to pick up the migrants.


"Gastelum intentionally or recklessly created a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to the illegal aliens when he placed them in a trailer that was set at 36 degrees Farenheit," his plea agreement states. "Border Patrol agents had to use bolt cutters to release the illegal aliens from the trailer and found them huddled together for warmth."

In a news release issued at the time of the bust, the Border Patrol said the undocumented passengers were processed for immigration violations.

"In an effort to prevent fatalities at the hands of smugglers," the news release said, the "Department of Homeland Security has recently launched 'Operation Safeguard' to educate the public and the trucking industry on the life-threatening dangers involved in using commercial conveyances to smuggle humans."

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