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Man involved in migrant deaths in tractor-trailer pleads guilty

  • This is the first guilty plea related to the deaths
  • 53 migrants lost their lives in a tractor-trailer last year
  • Additional people have been charged but not yet convicted

FILE – Police and other first responders work the scene where officials say dozens of people have been found dead and multiple others were taken to hospitals with heat-related illnesses after a semitrailer containing suspected migrants was found, Monday, June 27, 2022, in San Antonio. Following the horror of 53 migrants found dead or dying in Texas. The deadliest smuggling attempt in U.S. history illustrated the limitations of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s massive border apparatus after 53 migrants were found dead or dying in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

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(NewsNation) — A man involved in the smuggling operation that led to the deaths of 53 migrants in a tractor-trailer in Texas last year pleaded guilty to smuggling charges today.

Christian Martinez, a 29-year-old from Palestine, Texas, pleaded guilty to several counts, including one count of Conspiracy to Transport Illegal Aliens Resulting in Death.

Federal prosecutors alleged Martinez and others were involved in a scheme to illegally transport migrants across the border that involved packing them into a big rig.

Fifty-three migrants lost their lives in that tractor-trailer last summer. They were locked inside and lacked access to either water or air conditioning. Their deaths constituted perhaps the nation’s deadliest human smuggling event ever.

Martinez is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 4 and could face up to life in prison.

Several other people have been charged with crimes related to the incident, but Martinez is the first to plead guilty.

Immigration

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