Dallas woman pleads guilty in El Paso in human smuggling death case
A Dallas woman accused of operating stash houses and a human smuggling organization pleaded guilty in El Paso in the death of a migrant who died while being smuggled past a Border Patrol checkpoint, court records show.
Elizabeth Miranda Lozano, 39, pleaded guilty May 10 to one count of conspiracy to bring in aliens resulting in death at the Albert Armendariz Sr. Federal Courthouse in Downtown El Paso, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas officials said.
A sentencing date has not set. She faces up to life in prison.
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Lozano was accused of playing several roles in a human smuggling organization from at least November 2019 to August 2021. The operation would transport and harbor the migrants from Mexico into the U.S. through Hudspeth County, officials said.
She allegedly began working for the organization as a transport driver during which she would pick up migrants near Sierra Blanca and drive them to stash houses near Dallas or Phoenix, officials said.
Lozano "graduated" to running stash houses in the Dallas area for the organization in 2020, officials said.
Another person working with Lozano, who is not named in court documents, guided a group of migrants on a two-to-three-day trek in May 2020 to a pickup location east of the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in Sierra Blanca, officials said.
A third person, who had been trained by Lozano, was assigned as the pickup driver.
Before the group of migrants could arrive at the pickup location, one migrant began to struggle and subsequently died, officials said.
The group abandoned the deceased migrant along with his son, who eventually was found by Border Patrol agents, officials said.
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Court documents state two migrants died while being smuggled by the organization. The migrants are only identified as S.A.T.D. and M.R.M. in a federal indictment.
While the names of the guide and pickup driver are not in court documents, at least three people — Lozano, Guadalupe Quezada and Veronica Quezada — were indicted in the case.
Guadalupe Quezada pleaded guilty March 21 to one count each of conspiracy to bring in aliens resulting in death and conspiracy to launder money, court records show.
Veronica Quezada pleaded guilty March 27 to one count of conspiracy to bring in aliens resulting in death, court records state.
Both women are set to be sentenced Aug. 21.
Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Dallas woman pleads guilty in El Paso in human smuggling death case
