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Two Guatemalan men pleaded guilty last week to operating a "prolific alien smuggling organization" out of Texas after a migrant woman’s body was found abandoned in a trailer with other illegal immigrants.
Armando Gael-Galicia, also known as Artemio Diego Andres Gonzalez and Luis Moreno-Gonzalez, 26, and Jose Diego Tercero-Gonzalez, 22, pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday in the Western District of Texas to conspiracy to transport and harbor aliens for financial gain and resulting in death.
The Department of Justice said both men are Guatemalan nationals who were living in Texas.
At sentencing, each will face a statutory maximum penalty of life in prison, the DOJ said.
This file photo shows a migrant family sitting after being processed on May 5, 2022, in Roma, Texas. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's "Operation Lone Star" directed approximately 10,000 members of the National Guard to assist law enforcement with patrol and border apprehensions. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
In early May 2021, the body of a young indigenous Guatemalan woman was discovered in a remote area just outside of Odessa, Texas. Three months later, Gael-Galicia and Tercero-Gonzalez were arrested on Aug. 23, 2021, in or near 910 Coyochic Avenue -- the location of the trailer where the victim was taken and died.
Inside the trailer were additional migrants who had entered the country illegally, detailed ledgers, and more than 100 cell phones, according to federal prosecutors.
"Pursuant to their guilty pleas, the defendants admitted that they operated a prolific alien smuggling organization and were responsible for the transportation of the migrant who died," the DOJ said.
The investigation is related to the recent arrests and indictments of four people in Guatemala.
In August, Guatemala authorities arrested Felipe Diego Alonzo, also known as Siete, 38; Nesly Norberto Martinez Gomez, also known as Canche, 37; Lopez Mateo Mateo, also known as Bud Light, 42; and Juan Gutierrez Castro, also known as Andres, 45; pursuant to requests for their extradition by the United States, according to the Justice Department.
This file photo shows migrants, mostly from Venezuela, queue to board a bus to New York at the Migrant Welcome Center managed by the city of El Paso and the Office of Emergency Management, in El Paso, Texas, on September 16, 2022. (REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez)
The four allegedly conspired with other smugglers to facilitate the travel of large numbers of migrants from Guatemala through Mexico and, ultimately, to the United States, charging the migrants and their families approximately $10,000 to $12,000 for the perilous journey.
In addition to the prolific smuggling of migrants to the United States, the accused human smugglers targeted in the August 2022 operation are alleged to be responsible for the death of the same indigenous Guatemalan woman transported by Gael-Galicia and Tercero-Gonzalez.
Migrants who are believed to have crossed the border from Mexico into the United States are seen after the truck they were being transported in was intercepted by law enforcement officers in Texas, in this undated police photo submitted into evidence in U.S. District Court as part of a series of indictments of alleged human smugglers in Laredo, Texas, U.S., on September 13, 2022. (U.S. Justice Department/Handout)
This investigation was coordinated under Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), which was created by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in June 2021 in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to strengthen the DOJ’s "overall efforts to combat these crimes based on the rise in prolific and dangerous smuggling emanating from Central America and impacting our border communities."
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"Through extensive coordination with our U.S. Attorney’s Office and law enforcement partners, yesterday’s guilty pleas emphasize JTFA’s comprehensive mission to leave no stone unturned in its efforts to hold accountable all those who treat human life like a commodity," Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement on Friday.
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