A 34-year-old Alamo, Texas trucker has been ordered to prison for smuggling people into the United States from multiple countries, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei recently.
Eusebio Cavazos pleaded guilty Feb. 13.
U.S. District Judge David Morales ordered Cavazos to serve the statutory maximum of 60 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.
At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence regarding numerous sentencing enhancements applied in the case. These included transporting over 25 aliens, recklessness for locking the aliens in the back of a cold trailer with no means of escape, transporting a minor and using his skills as a truck driver to commit the crime.
In handing down the sentence, Judge Morales noted he would have sentenced Cavazos to a higher sentence if not for the statutory maximum of 60 months.
On Dec. 13, 2024, Cavazos drove a tractor-trailer into the primary inspection lane at the Border Patrol checkpoint near Sarita, Texas. Upon initial inspection, a K-9 alerted to the possible presence of humans in the trailer.
Authorities referred him to secondary inspection where they discovered 36 illegal aliens in the back of the trailer and nothing else. It was 54 degrees inside and the doors were locked and sealed with no means of escape.
Cavazos admitted someone had hired him to drive all 36 illegal aliens from a point near Donna to Houston.
He expected to receive $1,000 per alien he was transporting.
Cavazos has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
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