SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge sentenced a man to 15 years in prison Thursday for coordinating a trip in which more than 20 migrants were piled into a Ford Expedition truck that crashed into a tractor-trailer, killing them. of 13 people on the outskirts of a California desert town.
Jose Cruz Noguez pleaded guilty this year to charges stemming from the March 2, 2021 crash near Holtville, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) east of San Diego. It was one of the deadliest highway crashes involving migrants smuggled into the United States.
Cruz Noguez also admitted to trying to get survivors to pay for the smuggling trip, prosecutors said. Neither Cruz Noguez nor his attorney could be reached for comment.
“Cruz Noguez staged one of the cruelest and most inhumane smuggling attempts police have ever responded to in this district,” said US Attorney Randy Grossman. “He and his accomplices treated these individuals like worthless merchandise.”
Cruz Noguez arranged for the Ford Expedition and a GMC Yukon pickup to be modified, removing the passenger seats so they could stack people, according to prosecutors. He then drove north of the border to make sure there were no police officers in the area.
At least 24 people were packed into the Ford Expedition and another 19 into the GMC Yukon. A portion of the border fence was then removed so vehicles could cross the Mexican border and enter California, prosecutors said.
Shortly after crossing the border, the Yukon caught fire and the driver fled, while the Ford Expedition continued on Interstate 8 toward Holtville. Just outside the town it collided with a tractor-trailer, killing 13 people.
When rescuers arrived at the scene, some passengers were trying to drag themselves out of the dilapidated van. Others roamed the nearby fields. The front of the truck collided with the left side of the pickup and two empty trailers skidded to a stop perpendicular to it.
The ages of the passengers ranged from 15 to 53, and those who survived had minor to severe injuries, including fractures and head trauma, according to authorities. The driver was a native of the city of Mexicali, Mexico, across the border, and was one of the deceased.
The truck driver, a 68-year-old from the nearby California community of El Centro, suffered moderate injuries.
The crash happened at about 6:15 a.m. under clear, sunny skies at a crossroads outside the community of Holtville, about 11 miles (18 kilometers) north of the border. Authorities said the tractor-trailer was heading north on a freeway when the truck cut into it from a road marked with a stop sign.
The area of the mishap became one of the main routes for illegal border crossings in the late 1990s, after heightened enforcement in San Diego forced immigrants to head to more remote areas.
Just a mile from where the crash occurred is a cemetery lined with unmarked brick rows used to bury immigrants who died crossing the border.
