Guatemalan man gets 30 years for part in smuggling tragedy that killed 53 people in Texas
The 2022 incident was one of the deadliest human smuggling attempts along the U.S.-Mexico border
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incident → get → border
A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Guatemalan man extradited to the U.S. over his role in a 2022 human smuggling attempt that ended in the deaths of 53 migrants who had been transported in a sweltering tractor-trailer in Texas.
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who → sentence → Texas
U.S. and Guatemalan prosecutors called Rigoberto Ramon Miranda Orozco's sentencing another step toward justice in one of the deadliest smuggling attempts along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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prosecutors → call → border
Miranda Orozco, 50, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after admitting to arranging travel and accommodations for two people who died and another who was seriously injured.
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who → sentence → people
Nearly 20 people in the U.S. and Guatemala have been convicted since the discovery of the abandoned trailer full of bodies horrified communities accustomed to seeing their young people leave, trying to flee poverty or violence in Central America and Mexico.
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people → convict → America
"It was clear that they suffered tremendously in their last few hours on this earth," U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons told reporters at a news conference following the sentencing.
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Simmons → suffer → sentencing
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, June 27, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas.
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semitrailer → work → Antonio
People tried to 'claw their way out'
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People → try → way
The trailer's air conditioning malfunctioned and would not blow cool air to the people trapped inside during the sweltering, three-hour ride in June 2022 from the border city of Laredo to San Antonio, authorities said.
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authorities → malfunction → Antonio
Prosecutors have said migrants paid up to $15,000 US each to be taken across the U.S. border.
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migrants → say → border
When the abandoned trailer was opened on a remote San Antonio back road, 48 migrants were dead.
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migrants → abandon → road
Another 16 were taken to hospitals, where five more died.
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five → take → hospitals
46 migrants found dead in abandoned trailer in San Antonio, Texas
Texas migrant deaths: Truck driver among 3 arrested as investigators work to ID dozens of victims
Simmons said investigators found clothing passengers had shed to cool off and claw marks on the trailer's walls.
"They were literally trying to claw their way out," he said.
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he → find → way
Twenty-one of those who died were from Guatemala, Simmons said.
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Simmons → die → Guatemala
Rigoberto Ramon Miranda Orozco, seen here in September 2024, was sentenced to 30 years in prison Tuesday for his role in the 2022 human smuggling case that left 53 migrants dead.
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that → see → migrants
Miranda Orozco's attorney, Alfonso Cabanas Jr., called the sentence "very tough."
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attorney → call → sentence
He said his client was in Guatemala at the time and had no control over the type of transportation the migrants would take to San Antonio nor did he know the air conditioning was malfunctioning.
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conditioning → say → Antonio
Cabanas said he doesn't think harsh punishments will "make a dent" in such operations.
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punishments → say → operations
"What we do need is comprehensive immigration reform," Cabanas said.
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Cabanas → need → What
Other defendants still await sentencing
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defendants → await → sentencing
U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia sentenced Miranda Orozco, who was arrested in Guatemala in 2024 and extradited to the U.S. the following year.
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who → sentence → U.S.
He pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to bring a migrant into the U.S. resulting in death, aiding and abetting bringing a migrant into the U.S. resulting in death, as well as aiding and abetting bringing a migrant into the U.S. resulting in serious bodily injury, prosecutors said.
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prosecutors → plead → injury
Simmons said prosecutors in Guatemala were integral in securing convictions for Miranda Orozco and others.
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prosecutors → say → Orozco
Simmons was joined by Guatemalan Attorney General Gabriel García Luna, who reflected on the suffering the migrants inside the tractor-trailer endured.
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migrants → join → trailer
"They paid for a promise, and those who cashed in on that promise abandoned them to their fate," García Luna said.
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Luna → pay → fate
Last year, Felipe Orduna-Torres, described by prosecutors as the leader of the smuggling operations inside the U.S., was sentenced to life in prison in the U.S.
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Torres → describe → U.S.
Armando Gonzales-Ortega, his top assistant, was sentenced to 83 years.
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Ortega → sentence → years
More sentencing dates to come
The tragedy is the deadliest among those that have claimed thousands of lives in recent decades as people attempt to cross the U.S. border from Mexico.
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people → come → Mexico
Ten migrants died in 2017 after they were trapped inside a truck parked at a Walmart in San Antonio.
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they → die → Antonio
In 2003, the bodies of 19 migrants were found in a sweltering truck southeast of San Antonio.
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bodies → find → Antonio
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