Conspiracy trial opens in drownings of immigrants
Associated Press
Sept. 28, 2009, 3:45PM

McALLEN — A man is in a South Texas federal court today to stand trial in an immigrant smuggling conspiracy that led to the drowning deaths of nine Central American immigrants.

The nine drowned in a South Texas canal in 2004. Jorge Hernandez Hernandez is charged for his alleged role in organizing the smuggling operation’s human stash houses.

Testimony began Monday in a McAllen courtroom, and Hernandez listened to accounts from lower-level scouts and drivers. Among them was a 17-year-old who took a wrong turn in the dark, plunging a carload of illegal immigrants into the canal.

Hernandez is charged with multiple counts of bringing in and harboring aliens.

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