Thread: Texas stash house operator pleads guilty in deadly smuggling run of 39 ill...(update)

Texas stash house operator pleads guilty in deadly smuggling run of 39 illegal immigrants, faces life in prison

By Frank Miles | Fox News


The 47-year-old operator of an immigrant stash house in Laredo, Texas, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the case of a deadly smuggling run last July that left 10 immigrants dead or dying in a semitrailer in San Antonio.

Pedro Silva Segura faces up to life in prison; sentencing has been set for June 29. He had a holding area for illegal immigrants waiting transportation, investigators said, and he admitted he gave the driver five of those immigrants from his stash house.

He entered his plea Thursday before a federal magistrate in San Antonio.

The truck's driver, James Matthew Bradley Jr., pleaded guilty in October to single counts of conspiracy and transporting immigrants resulting in death.

He's set to be sentenced March 26 and also faces up to life in prison.

At least 39 immigrants, most of them from Mexico, were packed inside the sweltering semitrailer. Police found the trailer, which had a broken cooling system, last July in a Walmart parking lot.

According to court documents, police responded to a Walmart parking lot in San Antonio just after midnight July 23. An officer saw people standing and lying in the back of the trailer, which had a broken cooling system, and Bradley sitting in the cab.

That’s when officers found 39 illegal immigrants — most of them from Mexico — including four unaccompanied teens. Eight of the immigrants already were dead; two would die later in area hospitals.

The immigrants estimated that there were up to 200 people in the trailer during the transport. They also said they paid differing fees to be smuggled.

Investigators said passengers had experienced difficulty breathing as temperatures, which had topped 100 degrees in San Antonio, climbed.

Texas stash house operator pleads guilty in deadly smuggling run of 39 illegal immigrants, faces life in prison

These stash houses need to be burned down as training exercises by our Fire Department.

Then they need to be bulldozed until every illegal is out of that community and clean up these cesspools of these people!

Connected to deadly tractor trailer case in 2017

SAN ANTONIO — A Mexican man was sentenced in federal court Wednesday to more than five years in prison following his conviction for conspiracy to transport illegal aliens which resulted in ten deaths.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with assistance from the San Antonio Police Department, San Antonio Fire Department, Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Border Patrol.

Pedro Silva-Segura, 47, from Mexico but residing illegally in Laredo, Texas, was sentenced Oct. 10 by U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra to 108 months in prison. Since Silva-Segura is not a U.S. citizen he is expected to face deportation proceedings after he completes his prison sentence.

“As this sentence makes clear, those who exploit people in this brutal and disgraceful way will face serious consequences themselves,” said Special Agent in Charge, Shane Folden, HSI San Antonio. “Alien smugglers view their clients as nothing more than a commodity and they have no qualms about collecting their smuggling fees.”

“Today’s lengthy sentence is a reminder that the penalties are very severe for anyone who participates in the dangerous business of illegally transporting human beings in tractor trailers. Time and again, we have seen this practice result in the loss of life of the most vulnerable among us. We will be relentless in prosecuting this very serious crime,” stated U.S. Attorney Bash.

According to court documents, on March 8, 2018, Silva pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens, resulting in death. By pleading guilty, Silva admitted to operating a stash house in Laredo, Texas, used as a holding area for illegal aliens awaiting transportation to final destinations in the U.S. Silva further admitted that approximately five illegal aliens left the stash house on the night of July 22, 2017, and were delivered to a truck driven by James Matthew Bradley, Jr., that was bound for San Antonio.

San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) officers responded to a call at the Wal-Mart store located at 8538 Interstate 35 in San Antonio shortly after midnight on Sunday, July 23, 2017. An officer encountered a tractor-trailer behind the store, finding several people standing and lying in the rear of the trailer, and the driver, Bradley, in the cab. At the scene, law enforcement officers discovered 39 illegal aliens. Of the 39 found at the scene, 10 died. There were four juveniles, aged 14-17 years old, within the group of aliens in Bradley’s trailer who were unaccompanied by an adult. Court records further state that the illegal aliens estimated the trailer contained between 70 and 180 to 200 people during transport. They also described differing fees for being transported.

Silva-Segura will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the Western District of Texas, prosecuted this case.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/so...federal-prison