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Two Convicted in Deadliest Migrant Smuggling Case in U.S. History

Felipe Orduna-Torres and Armando Gonzalez-Ortega face life sentences for their roles in the 2022 San Antonio tragedy that claimed 53 lives.

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Police and other first responders work the scene where officials say dozens of people have been found dead and multiple others were taken to hospitals with heat-related illnesses after a tractor-trailer containing suspected migrants was found on June 27, 2022, in San Antonio.
Relatives and friends of late migrants Jair Valencia, 19, Yovani Valencia, 16, and Misael Olivares, 16, attend the funeral, after their death last month when they suffocated while being smuggled in a trailer in San Antonio, Texas, U.S., at a cemetery in the town of San Marcos Atexquilapan, in Veracruz state, Mexico July 15, 2022. REUTERS/Yahir Ceballos/File Photo
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Overview

  • A federal jury convicted Felipe Orduna-Torres and Armando Gonzalez-Ortega on multiple counts, including conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants resulting in death.
  • The 2022 incident involved 66 migrants trapped in a trailer with malfunctioning air conditioning, leading to 53 deaths and 11 injuries.
  • The migrants, originating from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, paid $12,000 to $15,000 each for the perilous journey to the U.S.
  • Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco, a leader of a Guatemala-based smuggling network, was extradited to the U.S. and faces related charges.
  • Sentencing for the convicted men is scheduled for June 27, 2025, on the third anniversary of the tragedy.