Overcoming an initial deadlock, a US federal jury in Houston on Wednesday convicted three South Texans in a botched scheme that killed 19 illegal immigrants sealed in a trailer bound north from the Mexican border in 2003.
Eleven people have now been convicted in the case, the nation's deadliest human-smuggling disaster. Fourteen were charged after the trailer, crammed with at least 74 people from Mexico and Central America, was found abandoned at a truck stop in Victoria, Texas, on May 14, 2003, with 17 bodies inside. Two more victims died later.
The trial featured gripping accounts from survivors, one of whom, Jose Juan Roldan-Castro, testified that the three-and-a-half hours in the trailer felt like "centuries." He described tearing holes in the trailer in a desperate bid for air.
The three defendants in the current trial, Victor Sanchez Rodriguez, 58, and his wife, Emma Sapata Rodriguez, 59, of Brownsville; and her half-sister, Rosa Maria Serrata, 51, of San Benito, were together found guilty of 35 of 43 counts involving the feeding, sheltering and transporting of the victims and survivors, and could each face up to 20 years in prison. Judge Vanessa Gilmore set sentencing for May 1.
The government charged that by harboring the immigrants, the trio shared responsibility with those who directed the smuggling operation and with the truck driver.
It appeared Tuesday that the three-week-long trial had come apart. Jurors reported themselves deadlocked. Gilmore read them a standard exhortation to keep deliberating, and their next note, Wednesday morning, announced their agreement on verdicts.
Because the jury found that none of the immigrants "died as a result of the conduct" of the defendants, the maximum penalty was 20 years instead of life in prison.
The Rodriguezes and Serrata, all American citizens, fled to Mexico after the incident, but were arrested there and returned for trial.
Their convictions came almost a year after the driver of the truck, Tyrone Williams, 35, of Schenectady, New York, was found guilty on smuggling charges.
But jurors deadlocked on questions of his culpability, and the government is seeking to retry him on all charges.
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
The latest batch from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s e-mails illustrates the extraordinary scope of his contacts with powerful people, ranging from a top Trump adviser to Britain’s ex-prince Andrew. The US House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on trying to force release of evidence gathered on Epstein by law enforcement over the years — including the identities of the men suspected of participating in his alleged sex trafficking ring. However, a slew of e-mails released this week have already opened new windows to the extent of Epstein’s network. These include multiple references to US President Donald
CHARGES: The former president, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for a failed coup bid, as well as an assassination plot Far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is running out of options to avoid prison, after judges on Friday rejected his appeal against a 27-year sentence for a botched coup bid. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 elections and was convicted in September for his efforts to prevent Brazlian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking power after the polls. Prosecutors said the scheme — which included plans to assassinate Lula and a top Brazilian Supreme Court judge — failed only due to a lack of support from military top brass. A panel of Supreme Court judges weighing Bolsonaro’s appeal all voted to uphold
RSS