Human smuggler gets life sentence for I-10 shootings
Jacques Billeaud
Associated Press
Feb. 16, 2007 12:00 AM


FLORENCE - An immigrant smuggler in one of the most violent episodes in human trafficking in recent years was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for his part in the fatal shootings of four people in an attack against rival smugglers.

The November 2003 shooting on Interstate 10 near Casa Grande was retaliation against a smuggling organization that had stolen about 20 illegal immigrants from another group, which eventually tracked down and opened fired on two moving vehicles carrying their customers, authorities said.

The attack marked the peak of smuggling violence in Arizona and led to a crackdown on human traffickers in metropolitan Phoenix, a hub for sending illegal immigrants to jobs across the country.

Jose Angel Molina-Gastelum, a 31-year-old from the west coast Mexican state of Sinaloa, had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and was described by a fellow smuggler as leader of the attack.

"I never gave an order to kill anybody," said Molina-Gastelum, who must serve a minimum of 50 years before he's eligible for release from prison.

Three other men from Mexico who were traveling in a van with Molina-Gastelum during the attack also have made guilty pleas.

Prosecutors said Molina-Gastelum led the attack because the smuggling load was worth $8,000. Defense attorneys said Molina-Gastelum should have gotten a lesser sentence because all four men were equally responsible for the deaths.

Pinal County Superior Court Judge Boyd Johnson said the evidence showed Molina-Gastelum played a leading role, pointing out that he provided a vehicle and guns for the attack.

Some immigrant smugglers forcibly take the customers of rivals so they can pressure the friends and relatives of border-crossers to scrape together enough money for a ransom.

The rip-offs are lucrative for smugglers and eliminate some overhead that human traffickers pay in recruiting would-be border-crossers in Mexico and guiding immigrants through the Arizona desert.

Even though the 2003 interstate shooting led to four deaths, authorities said the damage from the attack could have been worse had it taken place farther north in metro Phoenix, where it could have drawn in other cars into high-speed wrecks.

The dispute began near Marana when two smugglers reported to their trafficking operations in Phoenix that three rivals had kidnapped about 20 illegal immigrants from Mexico.

Investigators said Molina-Gastelum and three other men in his group piled into a van and eventually chased down two vehicles carrying their customers.

One of the men in the van has said Molina-Gastelum hunted down rival smugglers because they had repeatedly kidnapped his customers. The man also said Molina-Gastelum instructed others to fire their guns and that Molina-Gastelum and another man emptied 30-round magazines into the two other vehicles, which didn't return fire.

Eric Kessler, Molina-Gastelum's attorney, attacked the credibility of that participant, saying the man had initially told police he did not fire at the vehicle, then later said he fired one shot.

"We didn't know who did what inside the van," Kessler said.

Prosecutor Greg Bizzozero said Molina-Gastelum was clearly the leader of the attack.

Four people, including one of the men who kidnapped the immigrants, died. Five others were injured. The shooting also caused a three-vehicle wreck that injured three people.

Two other men in the van with Molina-Gastelum - 34-year-old Javier Eduardo Martinez-Reyes and 32-year-old Jose Angela Espinoza-Gonzalez, both from Culiacan, Sinaloa - are awaiting a March 5 sentencing on their convictions for one count of attempted first-degree murder.

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