A Guatemalan man who helped transport a migrant who died after arriving in Texas was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in a federal prison after pleading guilty to re-entering the U.S. after being deported and transporting undocumented migrants.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, an investigation was launched when the body of a 21-year-old woman from Guatemala was found on the side of a rural highway in Crane County.
In August 2021, Homeland Security Investigation special agents executed searches on two mobile homes in Odessa believed to be “stash” houses and seized ledgers identifying members of a human smuggling organization.
Mario Rigoberto Diego-Esteban, 26, was named in the ledger and when he was arrested in December 2021 he told investigators he’d transported 100 migrants for $125 each, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He also recalled seeing the deceased woman prior to her death, telling special agents she was having a hard time walking and remaining conscious.
An investigation revealed she died upon arriving at one of the stash houses.
“The complete lack of concern for a young woman’s life in this case is appalling and yet smuggling networks like these continue to flourish because it is not about preserving life, but about cold, hard cash,” U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff said in a news release.
She said the U.S. Attorney’s Office and its partners will continue to hold the smugglers accountable.
