Truck driver in smuggling attempt that killed 53 migrants pleads guilty – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

A Texas truck driver accused of killing 53 migrants in a horrific tractor-trailer with no air conditioning pleaded guilty Thursday to the 2022 tragedy, the nation’s largest smuggling attempt across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Homero Zamorano Jr., who lived in Texas, pleaded guilty to three counts and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, the Justice Department announced.

Authorities say Zamorano, who was driving the truck, and the other men accused of the smuggling attempt knew the trailer’s air conditioner was malfunctioning and was not providing cool air to the migrants trapped inside during the sweltering three-hour drive from the border. from the city of Laredo to San Antonio.

People believed to be involved in a migrant smuggling operation have been found dead in San Antonio.

Temperatures reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), investigators said, and migrants screamed and pounded on the walls of the trailer, asking for help or clawing their way out.

According to the Mexican authorities, there were 67 people in the truck, among the dead – 27 from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador. Prosecutors said the migrants paid up to $15,000 each to cross the US border.