Pasadena man gets 19 years for immigrant smuggling
By MARY FLOOD HOUSTON CHRONICLE
July 16, 2009, 2:01PM

A Pasadena man was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison by a Corpus Christi judge today for his role in the deaths of three people when a van carrying smuggled illegal immigrants crashed.

Frank Garcia, 30, was sentenced to 234 months in federal prison for his involvement in a November 2008 smuggling conspiracy, United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced in a press release.

Garcia pleaded guilty to his role in a conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants from Mexico into the United States. In November he delivered a van loaded with illegal immigrants to smugglers outside the town of Concepcion, and then drove a lead vehicle while a co-defendant, Jesus Rivera-Resendiz, followed in the van with two suspected and six confirmed illegal immigrants, the release stated.

Local police got a tip and pursued the van which crashed and burned. Two suspected illegal immigrants were killed, along with the van's driver. Others in the van were seriously injured.

Garcia escaped when police stopped to assist the crash victims but investigators from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement found him.

Rivera-Resendiz earlier received a sentence of more than seven years in prison.

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