The feds say their cases included a 7-year-old girl found sweating inside a plastic bin after being separated from her mother and women locked in a sweltering trunk.
HOUSTON — Two Houston men linked to dozens of human smuggling cases are going to prison, U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei announced Monday.
Richard Dell Carroll II, 26, and Josue Isaac Hernandez, 23, were each sentenced to 66 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants.
The feds say Carroll and Hernandez have been linked to at least 53 failed smuggling attempts involving more than 100 immigrants.
Testimony detailed often inhumane conditions, including a seven-year-old girl who was sweating inside a plastic bin after being separated from her mother. In another case, two young women were hidden in a fake speaker box inside a sweltering trunk where the temperature was over 102 degrees.
The feds first began linking the cases to the defendants in December 2022 after repeatedly finding the fake speaker boxes inside trunks. Investigators discovered shopping lists Hernandez and Carroll sent to drivers and discovered they had arranged the installation of the fake speaker boxes.
The feds also learned that Carroll and Hernandez were working together to recruit drivers around the country through Instagram and other social media platforms.
Hernandez used the money he made to pay for a lavish lifestyle that included international trips and private jets.
Carroll portrayed himself as an entrepreneur and financial adviser to his recruits, offering to invest their illegal proceeds despite having no qualifications. He lied and said he had worked for Tesla and was enrolled at Rice University.
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