A Texas man was sentenced this week to nearly five years in prison for attempting to smuggle 124 unlawful migrants in a sealed tractor-trailer across the Texas border, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
A federal judge gave David William McKeon 57 months in prison after jurors found him guilty of 20 counts of conspiracy to transport people in a sealed trailer. The verdict was reached following a two-day trial and two hours of deliberation.
“These smugglers are motivated by human greed and heartlessness,” acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Craig Larrabee said. “HSI will continue collaborating with our law enforcement partners, such as Border Patrol, to protect our border and the nation’s immigration laws.”
When McKeon arrived at the Laredo North border patrol (BP) checkpoint on April 20, prosecutors said he had put the 124 people inside the tractor-trailer in danger. After hearing noises coming from the vehicle, agents discovered the people inside behind the doors of a vent.
McKeon, 67, testified at his trial that he was recruited for the job at his birthday party. He picked up the truck on a dirt road and was given a forged bill of lading in a Popeye’s restaurant parking lot.
He then drove to the checkpoint. Defense attorneys claimed McKeon was unaware of the unlawful migrants inside the trailer. McKeon will be supervised for an additional three years after his release.
Newly released customs and border protection data revealed border patrol agents had arrested 98 illegal migrants on the FBI’s terror watchlist at the southern border in 2022, as reported by The Dallas Express.
The 98 figure is a one-year high and a significant increase from 0 in 2019, three in 2020, and 15 in 2021.
Arrests of people on terror watchlists have also increased rapidly over the last six months. As of March 2022, 27 people on the watchlist had been arrested along the southern border,
In contrast, 20 illegal migrants on the terror watchlist were apprehended in September alone.
“Our adversaries are well aware that they can enter our country through our failed border,” said Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), the top Republican on the Senate’s homeland security and governmental affairs committee, in a statement Monday.