Guatemalan Man Pleads Guilty in U.S. Court Over Deadly 2021 Mexico Migrant Truck Crash
Daniel Zavala Ramos, a 42-year-old Guatemalan national, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Laredo, Texas, to conspiring to smuggle migrants from Guatemala through Mexico to the United States. His plea acknowledges his role in a December 9, 2021, incident where a tractor-trailer truck carrying over 160 migrants overturned in Chiapas, Mexico, killing at least 53 people and injuring more than 100. Ramos faces a potential life sentence for placing lives in jeopardy and causing serious injury and death. He is the first of six charged individuals to be convicted; the remaining five have a pretrial conference scheduled for June 3. Prosecutors revealed that the smuggling ring used various transport methods and provided scripts to unaccompanied children to evade detection. Ramos was extradited from Guatemala in 2025 to face these charges. Sentencing is set for July 7.
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Guatemalan Man Pleads Guilty in U.S. Court Over Deadly 2021 Mexico Migrant Truck Crash
Daniel Zavala Ramos, a 42-year-old Guatemalan national, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Laredo, Texas, to conspiring to smuggle migrants from Guatemala through Mexico to the United States. His plea acknowledges his role in a December 9, 2021, incident where a tractor-trailer truck carrying over 160 migrants overturned in Chiapas, Mexico, killing at least 53 people and injuring more than 100. Ramos faces a potential life sentence for placing lives in jeopardy and causing serious injury and death. He is the first of six charged individuals to be convicted; the remaining five have a pretrial conference scheduled for June 3. Prosecutors revealed that the smuggling ring used various transport methods and provided scripts to unaccompanied children to evade detection. Ramos was extradited from Guatemala in 2025 to face these charges. Sentencing is set for July 7.
AP News