The Brownsville Herald – by LORENZO ZAZUETA-CASTRO
LA JOYA — Federal agents arrested four people in connection with a rollover crash that killed a Guatemalan woman and injured several other immigrants.
Juan Manuel Garcia, 18, Eloy Mendoza, 26, Jose Manuel Lovato-Balleza, 23, and Julia Resendez, 32, were caught by Homeland Security Investigations Sunday on charges of bringing in and harboring aliens, according to court records.
The arrests occurred after a rollover Thursday left a 22-year-old Guatemalan woman dead and 11 others injured. All 12 people had entered the country illegally, records show.
The crash happened around 5:35 p.m. north of La Joya near FM 2221 just east of County Line Road when Garcia, who was smuggling people in a Chevy pickup truck, attempted to perform a U-turn as U.S. Border Patrol agents pursued him, authorities said.
As a result, Garcia lost control of the truck, drove through a fence and rolled the vehicle several times. Garcia was identified by other passengers as the driver of the truck, records show.
In a follow-up investigation, HSI agents located two other men that had fled the scene after the crash. Both men eventually told agents of the stash house location, records show.
There, agents were able to locate 15 more immigrants, 10 of whom were in a shed that was locked from the outside, authorities said.
Mendoza and Lovato admitted to investigators of their involvement in operating and maintaining the stash house. Mendoza stated he would receive $20 per person while Lovato was paid $30 per person for feeding and helping transport immigrants, records show.
Resendez was also arrested during the raid on the stash house, authorities said.
If convicted of the federal felony, Garcia faces up to life in prison or the death penalty since the crash resulted in a fatality.
Mendoza, Lovato and Resendez face between five to 10 years in prison and an undisclosed fine for harboring aliens.
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/valley/article_6c019e30-4e94-11e4-b26a-001a4bcf6878.html
a Mexican pretending to sell vegetables to an 18 year old woman at an elementary school went to shake her hand after she declined the sale and grabbed her with both hands dragging her to his car. lucky for her she escaped. he was later apprehended in another town and you would never guess what his bail was, 50k. they never said whether or not he was legal or illegal which the cartels could care less. if he was successful, the amount he could have made for himself and anyone else involved is a hell of a lot more than 50k. so you gotta wonder why the bail was so low. anyone else see the massive corruption going on here and whose involved.
where did this take place?
part of what we call the triangle and our small city is the epicenter, northern ca.