A 61-year-old San Antonio man has pleaded guilty to two federal charges in a human smuggling incident that led to the deaths of 10 undocumented immigrants this summer.
James Matthew Bradley Jr., who appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge on Monday, pleaded guilty to “one count of conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death and one count of transportation of aliens resulting in death,” according to the statement. statement from the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas.
The department added that Bradley's “guilty plea” meant he packed dozens of illegal immigrants into a tractor-trailer for financial gain, adding that the suspect confirmed the details in court documents were “factually correct.”
On July 23, San Antonio Police Department officers responded to a call from a Walmart employee shortly after midnight. Upon arrival, officers found 39 immigrants at the scene. Of those in the tractor-trailer, eight were found dead in the rear of the trailer and two died later at nearby hospitals, the statement said.
Survivors of the incident described what happened no air conditioning in overheated trailer and they had to take turns breathing through an air hole in the back of the truck. Bradley also initially told investigators that he was unaware of the immigrants in the trailer until he stopped at a Walmart in San Antonio to use the restroom.
Prosecutors also said Bradley faces life in prison on the charges and is scheduled to be sentenced in January 2018. The immigrants said the trailer carried up to 200 people and that they were charged various fees for traveling north from the U.S.-Mexico border, the statement said.
Jason Buch of the San Antonio Express-News told NewsHour Earlier this year, Border Patrol agents in Laredo, Texas, reported an increase in the number of immigrants using tractor-trailers to pass through border checkpoints.
“People tend to go to large metropolitan areas or regions of the country that employ a lot of immigrant workers, meaning areas with a large agricultural industry or a construction boom,” Buch said.
Shane M. Folden, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio, said in a statement that the trial “helps close the door on one of the conspirators responsible for the tragic loss of life and harm to those who survived this horrific incident.”
“This case is a stark reminder that alien smugglers are driven by greed and have little regard for the health and well-being of their human cargo, which can be a lethal combination,” he added.
Bradley's co-defendant Pedro Silva Segura was also indicted last month on two counts of conspiracy and two counts of transporting illegal immigrants causing serious bodily injury and endangering lives.
Segura, 47, is an undocumented immigrant living in Laredo, Texas.
