4th person pleads guilty in south Texas tractor trailer smuggling case, faces 20 years in prison
SAN ANTONIO – A fourth person has pleaded guilty to being involved with the organization responsible for smuggling migrants to Texas in a tractor trailer in 2022.
Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal, aka Cowboy, 38, was a member of the human smuggling organization responsible for the failed smuggling attempt on June 27, 2022, court documents say. Adults and children were illegally transported from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico into the U.S.
At least 66 migrants were found on the tractor trailer in San Antonio. A total of 47 adults and six children died.
Officials that day said all injuries were heat related and victims were 'hot to the touch' – those who died suffered from heat strokes and exhaustion due to high temperatures. There was no water or air conditioning on the trailer.
Court documents say Rivera-Leal would meet tractor trailers that transported migrants to San Antonio. He would then take smaller groups of migrants to Houston in his personal vehicle.
He faces up to 20 years in prison.
There are three other co-defendants whose cases are still pending, the U.S. Attorney's office says.
