Photo: EFE/ National Civil Police / EFE
For: EFE Updated 27 Jan 2022, 19: 11 pm EST
A resident of San Benito, in Texas, was sentenced to 41 months (three years and five months) in prison for illegally transporting 51 undocumented immigrants in a cargo truck, reported this Thursday the Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Rene Garcia, of 27 years, was sentenced Wednesday in Texas Southern District Court after pleading guilty to the charges. After serving his prison sentence, he must spend three years on supervised release, ICE said in a statement.
When issuing the sentence, the judge of the case took into consideration that García had recently been convicted of transporting undocumented immigrants in a different case.
The statement stated that García arrived on 13 May 2022 to the checkpoint of the Border Patrol in Falfurrias (Texas) driving a tractor-trailer. A Patrol dog called attention to the vehicle, which was sent for secondary inspection.
The authorities found 19 undocumented immigrants hiding between boxes of onions in the trailer of the truck. At least one of them reported having difficulty breathing in the compartment and that there was no way to escape in case of an emergency.
García admitted having made arrangements with an accomplice in San Benito to pass undocumented immigrants through the Falfurrias checkpoint, near the border with Mexico, and take them to Houston.
ICE indicated that García remains in custody pending his transfer to a facility of the Bureau of Prisons that will be determined shortly.
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