Mexican smuggler gets 4 years in prison for crashing into Texas military installation
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MIAMI - JULY 04: A driver who failed a field sobriety test at a DUI traffic checkpoint stands in handcuffs waiting to be processed June 4, 2007 in Miami, Florida. Several law enforcement agencies were conducting the checkpoint and conducting saturation patrols to help save lives during the 4th of July holiday. The National Safety Council has rated the July 4th holdiay as one of most lethal holidays for drivers, with alcohol factoring into nearly half of all motor vehicle deaths. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (2007 Getty Images)
A Mexican man has been sentenced to nearly four years in a U.S. prison for driving a vehicle that wrecked at a Texas military installation while trying to smuggle immigrants.
Mario Rodriguez-Gomez was sentenced Monday by a judge in Corpus Christi. The 25-year-old pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants causing serious bodily injury.
Investigators say Rodriguez-Gomez, while in the U.S. illegally and living in Houston, drove a pickup truck that wrecked May 14 while trying to elude Border Patrol agents.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The truck, with Rodriguez-Gomez and 14 passengers, drove through the entry gate of Naval Air Station Kingsville and hit a barrier. Six passengers were hurt.
Investigators say all of the occupants — from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala — were in the U.S. illegally.