PHARR, Texas (Border Report) — A South Texas man who pleaded guilty to transporting over two dozen migrants in a refrigerated trailer has been sentenced to prison.
Reynaldo Del Castillo, of La Villa, Texas, must serve 46 months in federal prison, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos ruled.
U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei on Tuesday announced the sentencing.
Ganjei said that during a court hearing, evidence was presented of the dangerous conditions that the migrants, including children, were transported in when Del Castillo was arrested Jan. 5 driving a tractor hauling a white refrigerated trailer.
Border Patrol agents stopped the trailer at the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint in Brooks County where the vehicle was searched and sent to secondary inspection after a K-9 alerted them.
The temperature in the compartment was 50 degrees at the time, Ganjei said.
“Any person who endangers lives by engaging in human smuggling deserves a serious sentence. Any person who smuggles people more than once is telling his fellow citizens that he has no regard for human life,” Ganjei said. “Here, a single technological malfunction could have cost the lives of 24 people, including two children. The Southern District of Texas is working hard to either put these smugglers out of business, or put them in prison. The choice is theirs.”
Del Castillo previously was convicted for smuggling and transporting illegal liens.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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