A 49-year-old resident of Laredo has been ordered to federal prison for his role in a conspiracy to transport illegal aliens, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Juan Manuel Aguirre pleaded guilty on February 6.
U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison has now ordered Aguirre to serve 63 months in federal prison, followed immediately by three years of supervised release.
At the hearing, the court considered Aguirre’s history of smuggling aliens on multiple occasions and the danger he posed by transporting them in a sealed, locked, dark and unventilated trailer that required authorities to open with a bolt cutter.
On December 2, 2024, law enforcement observed several individuals being loaded into a white trailer in a warehouse parking lot.
Aguirre was the driver of the truck hauling it. After he departed the location, authorities conducted a traffic stop, which resulted in the discovery of 101 aliens locked inside the trailer, 13 of whom were children as young as 13 years old.
Multiple illegal aliens reported they had difficulty breathing and feared for their lives due to the conditions in the trailer. They were from the countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba and Honduras.
Aguirre will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
