(Reuters) – A federal jury in San Antonio, Texas on Tuesday convicted two Mexican men for their roles in the smuggling death of 53 migrants packed into a truck during sweltering heat in June 2022, the Justice Department said.
Another suspect in the case has been extradited from Guatemala to face trial.
A total of 66 migrants from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras were stuck in a tractor-trailer with malfunctioning air conditioning that was abandoned on the outskirts of San Antonio on June 27, 2022, a day when temperatures soared as high as 103 Fahrenheit (39.4 Celsius).
Forty-eight people were found dead at the scene and another five died in hospital. Among the dead were six children and a pregnant woman, the Justice Department said in a press release.
Some migrants inside the trailer lost consciousness, while others clawed at the walls trying to escape, the Justice Department said, citing court documents and evidence presented at trial.
Felipe Orduna-Torres, 30, and Armando Gonzalez-Ortega, 55, were each convicted of four separate counts of smuggling resulting in death and injury and face up life in prison at sentencing, set for June 27.
At least eight suspects have been arrested with some of them still facing trial.
The driver of the truck, Homero Zamorano, pleaded guilty in January. He, too, faces up to life in prison.
The investigation has also resulted in the extradition of another suspect: Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco, 48.
Prosecutors accuse Miranda-Orozco of leading a Guatemala-based organization that smuggled three of those who died, charging their families $12,000-$15,000 each for the journey, the Justice Department said.
“The extradition of Miranda-Orozco to U.S. custody is a major step in the takedown of a large and complex human smuggling organization he is alleged to be a part of,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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