A federal court sentenced two human smugglers last week for their role in a conspiracy that killed 53 illegal aliens.
Thirty-year-old Felipe Orduna-Torres was a “leader and organizer” in a human smuggling group, while 55-year-old Armando Gonzales-Ortega was a “coordinator,” according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
The smugglers left illegal aliens in a sweltering tractor-trailer in June 2022, killing 47 adults and six children, as The Dallas Express previously reported.
Three years later, to the day, the smugglers were sentenced to prison.
“These criminals will spend the rest of their lives in prison because of their cruel choice to profit off of human suffering,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in the release. “Today’s sentences are a powerful message to human smugglers everywhere: we will not rest until you are behind bars.”
U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia sentenced the smugglers in San Antonio on June 27, according to the release. Orduna-Torres faces life in prison, while Gonzales-Ortega faces 83 years. Each of the men must also pay a $250,000 fine.
Garcia also ordered Orduna-Torres to pay a $96,000 “money judgment.” He forfeited multiple assets, including $59,445.50, a semi truck, a trailer, a Cadillac Escalade, and a Ford F-350 Super Duty.
The suspects’ human smuggling ring brought illegals into the country from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico from December 2021 to June 2022, according to the release. The group kept “a variety of tractors and trailers” for smuggling, some of which stayed at a private lot in San Antonio.
Before the fatal incident, Orduna-Torres “exchanged the names of illegal aliens who would be smuggled” in the tractor-trailer, per the release. Then he traveled to the border town of Laredo, where smugglers loaded at least 64 illegal aliens, including eight children and a pregnant woman.
He and some of the other smugglers knew the trailer’s refrigeration unit was “malfunctioning” and “not blowing any cool air to the migrants inside.” On June 27, 2022, smugglers met the trailer at the end of its journey to San Antonio. They opened the doors to find that 48 illegals, including the pregnant woman, were dead. Sixteen others went to hospitals, and five of them died.
“Three years to the day after these two smugglers and their co-conspirators left dozens of men, women, and children locked in a sweltering tractor-trailer to die in the Texas summer heat, they learned that they will spend the rest of their lives locked away in a federal prison,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons in the release.
Human smugglers often use dangerous means to sneak illegal aliens into the country. As The Dallas Express reported, one smuggler in Carrizo Springs recently trapped an illegal alien in a metal toolbox for two days.
The case was part of “Operation Take Back America,” which aims to “repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and other transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.” Under this operation, as The Dallas Express reported, a court recently sentenced a Mexican “narcotrafficker” tied to the Sinaloa Cartel.
Five other defendants have already pleaded guilty to their involvement in the fatal scheme and are awaiting sentencing, according to the release. Riley Covarrubias-Ponce, 32, is set for sentencing on November 6; Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal, 39, is set for November 13; Christian Martinez, 31, is set for November 20; and Homero Zamorano Jr., 48, is set for December 4. Juan Francisco D’Luna Bilbao, 51, was indicted separately and is set for sentencing on December 4.
ICE-Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio investigated this case, along with the FBI and ATF, according to the release. Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol, and ICE-Enforcement and Removal Operations supported them. Local agencies, including the San Antonio Police Department, the San Antonio Fire Department, the Marshall Police Department, and the Palestine Police Department, also provided assistance.
“This case serves as a stark reminder: human smuggling is not a service — it is a deadly criminal enterprise,” said Craig Larrabee, special agent in charge of ICE-HSI San Antonio. “No one who participates in the smuggling of human beings will escape the reach of justice.”