When the FBI Comes Calling…®
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Human smuggling trial to start today
Associated Press
The first trial connected to the nation's deadliest human smuggling attempt, which killed 19 immigrants, is set to begin today in federal court.
Victor Jesus Rodriguez, Claudia Carrizales de Villa and Fredy Giovanni Garcia-Tobar each face a total of 58 counts of harboring and transporting illegal immigrants. Each could get up to life in prison if convicted.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin this afternoon in the trial, which could last up to a month.
Prosecutors say the three were part of a smuggling ring that tried to transport a group of more than 70 immigrants inside a tractor-trailer during a trip from South Texas to Houston that began on the evening of May 13, 2003.
Packed inside the trailer, which had little ventilation, the immigrants from Mexico, Central America and the Dominican Republic began succumbing to the stifling temperatures, which authorities estimate reached 173 degrees.
Early the next morning, the trailer was abandoned at a truck stop near Victoria, about 100 miles southwest of Houston. Authorities found 17 immigrants dead inside the trailer. Two others later died.
Douglas McNabb, a Houston attorney not connected with the trial who specializes in federal criminal defense, said it will probably be an easier case for prosecutors because of the number of deaths involved.
"You are going to see the government argue that while the 19 immigrants were coming into the country illegally, they were doing so in an effort to get a better life and were taken advantage of by these defendants and suffered the ultimate experience because of that," he said.
The victims, including a 5-year-old Mexican boy, died from dehydration, hyperthermia and suffocation.
Karla Patricia Chavez, the alleged ringleader, pleaded guilty in the case in June.
This article can also be found in the WFAA and Denton Record Chronicle.