UPDATED: Palestine man indicted in migrant death-trailer case that left 53 dead
Jul. 22—Christian Martinez, 28, of Palestine was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in San Antonio for his involvement in the hot, airless tractor-trailer rig found last month with 53 dead or dying migrants.
Martinez was indicted, along with Homero Zamorano Jr., 46, of Pasadena, on counts of transporting and conspiring to transport migrants illegally resulting in death; and transporting and conspiring to transport migrants illegally resulting in serious injury.
Both remain in federal custody without bond pending trial.
Conviction on the death counts could result in life sentences, but the Attorney General's Office could authorize prosecutors to seek death penalties. The serious bodily injury counts carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
Martinez was arrested in June by the Palestine Police Department on a federal detainer. He was held in the Anderson County jail overnight and transported to Tyler where he had an initial appearance in court and was then transported to San Antonio for further proceedings.
The 67 suffering, dying and already deceased migrants were found on June 27 after the San Antonio Police Department received 911 calls from concerned citizens.
At the scene, SAPD officers discovered multiple individuals some still inside the tractor trailer, some on the ground and in nearby brush, many of them deceased and some of them incapacitated.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Zamorano was detained on June 27 after hiding in some nearby brush at the location of the tractor trailer. A search of Zamorano's cellphone revealed calls with Martinez concerning the smuggling run.
The Laredo Sector Border Patrol provided Homeland Security Investigation agents surveillance footage of the tractor trailer crossing through an immigration checkpoint. The driver could be seen wearing a black shirt with stripes and a hat. HSI agents confirmed Zamorano matched the individual from the surveillance footage and was wearing the same clothing.
One survivor of the journey, a 20-year-old from Guatemala, told The Associated Press that smugglers had covered the trailer's floor with what she believes was powdered chicken bouillon, apparently to throw off any dogs at the checkpoint.
In addition to the arrests of Zamorano and Martinez, Juan Claudio D'Luna-Mendez, 23, and Juan Francisco D'Luna-Bilbao, 48, both citizens of Mexico, were arrested and had initial appearances on June 27. According to court documents, the registration for the tractor trailer used in the attempted alien smuggling event came back to a residence in San Antonio.
SAPD officers set up surveillance on the residence and observed two males leaving in separate trucks. After traffic stops on both trucks, the drivers were identified as D'Luna-Mendez and D'Luna-Bilbao. D'Luna-Bilbao was in possession of a handgun that was found in the center console of the truck he was driving. A search warrant was executed at the residence where additional firearms were located. Both individuals were determined to be in the U.S. illegally and were charged by criminal complaint with one count of possession of a weapon by an alien illegally in the U.S. in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(5).
This case is the deadliest tragedy to claim the lives of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico. The truck had been packed with 67 people, and the dead included 27 from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador, said Francisco Garduño, chief of Mexico's National Immigration Institute.
The tragedy occurred at a time when huge numbers of migrants have been coming to the U.S., many of them taking perilous risks to cross swift rivers and canals and scorching desert landscapes. Migrants were stopped nearly 240,000 times in May, up by one-third from a year ago.
Gov. Greg Abbot has since issued directives for additional truck checkpoints to be set up on the Texas highways.
Associated Press Writers Terry Wallace, Juan Lozano, Fabiola Sanche, Maria Verza, Paul J. Weber, Elliot Spagat, Julie Watson, Tammy Webber, Edgar H. Clemente, Sonia D. Perez, and Marlon Gonzalez contributed to this report.
