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

Felipe Orduna-Torres and Armando Gonzales-Ortega face life sentences for their roles in the 2022 San Antonio tragedy that left 53 migrants dead.

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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 Gonzales-Ortega for conspiracy to transport migrants resulting in death and injury.
  • The 2022 incident involved 66 migrants packed into a tractor-trailer with malfunctioning air conditioning, leading to 53 deaths, including six children and a pregnant woman.
  • Migrants paid between $12,000 and $15,000 for the smuggling journey from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras to the United States.
  • Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco, a leader of a Guatemala-based smuggling network, was extradited to the U.S. and arraigned on related charges.
  • Sentencing for the convicted men is scheduled for June 27, 2025, marking the third anniversary of the tragedy.