Posted on 12/15/2007 8:36:58 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
A man charged in an immigrant smuggling run gone horribly wrong — in which a high-speed chase that began in Frio County ended with a deadly wreck in San Antonio — was sentenced Friday to 100 months in federal prison. Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of as little as 70 months in a plea deal for Wilberto Calderon-Yero, 29, a Cuban national.
But U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez opted for a stiffer penalty to account for the three men, presumably undocumented immigrants, who died in the July 9 wreck and now are buried in the same pauper's grave.
Yero pleaded guilty to a charge of illegally transporting immigrants.
Yero also has reached a plea deal for a 15-year sentence on state manslaughter charges and is scheduled for sentencing Monday in Bexar County courts.
A second man who faced prosecution in the deadly wreck, Javier Ramirez-Garcia, a Mexican national who was not charged with any state crimes and reached a quick plea agreement with federal authorities, is scheduled for sentencing in federal court Jan. 4.
Yero, who has a previous state felony conviction for cocaine possession, was identified by at least three of the passengers as being the driver of the Ford Excursion involved in the early morning chase, according to court records, but he subsequently denied being the wheelman.
The language of both plea deals is ambivalent on the point.
The vehicle was packed with 17 undocumented immigrants, the majority of whom were from Guatemala or Honduras and had paid as much as $2,500 apiece to be transported.
The SUV fled from a routine traffic stop by Natalia police. Authorities said the subsequent chase reached speeds of 100 mph.
The truck wrecked on Interstate 10 East near Loop 1604, spilling passengers along the roadway. Seven of the immigrants subsequently were hospitalized.
Yero himself spent almost two months in the hospital with injuries from the wreck.
At his sentencing Friday, Yero declined an opportunity to address the judge.
His lawyer, F. Allen Futrell, told Rodriguez that Yero was remorseful for his actions but also offered a criticism for the Natalia police, who followed the vehicle to San Antonio.
"I'm not sure the (Natalia) police department shouldn't have at some point let someone else take over," Futrell said.
As a condition of his sentence, Yero also was ordered to pay a fund for paupers' graves.
The three dead men from the wreck could not be identified and were buried Aug. 28 in the same plot paid for by a county fund.
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gzielinski@express-news.net
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
Oh, sure, as if not a single one of the other illegals would identify the dead so their bodies could be sent home. And he's only being made to pay for one, not three, but one pauper's burial??? What about the hospital bill, court costs, and his room and board for the next 100 months?
The lawyer having the unmitigated gall to criticize the police for doing their job is just so typical. Hope his car never gets hit by a drunken illegal alien driver.
After this criminal does his time he should be deported back to Cuba.
Regards
Had he been Mexican, he would have simply been deported!!
Orders from Senor Bush.
I don't know, this guy killed Mexicans the folks the President most cares for. I don't think GW would appreciate that. If the dude was Mexican GW would give him in state tuition.
Regards
What a sham.
Our country’s leaders are showing how much they have become a nation of fools.
ping
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