A Texas resident is facing years in federal prison for two separate human smuggling incidents involving semi trucks.

Joe Adam Escobedo, 31, was sentenced to 69 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

Escobedo pleaded guilty to charges related to human smuggling in September 2024.

Officials say that Escobedo was involved in two human smuggling incidents involving a total of 49 people within a three month period.

In April 12, 2024, Escobedo drove a tractor trailer into the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint in Texas and told officers that he was hauling a load of pineapples from Mexico to Michigan. A canine unit alerted to the truck, and a subsequent search uncovered seven individuals from El Salvador and Mexico hidden in the sleeper area of the tractor.

Escobedo was charged with human smuggling but was released on bond.

In June 11, 2024, Escobedo approached the same Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint, this time driving a truck hauling a refrigerated trailer. “During primary inspection, law enforcement noticed Escobedo gripping the steering wheel firmly and displaying signs of nervousness and referred him again to secondary inspection. Agents scanned the trailer and observed several anomalies in the trailer,” authorities said.

When officers searched they trailer, they found 42 individuals from Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico.

“The Southern District of Texas will vigorously pursue alien smuggling cases, given the risk they pose both to the persons smuggled as well as the public at large,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. “Tractor trailer smuggling can be especially hazardous, given the confined space and the unpredictable Texas weather. All it would have taken is a refrigeration malfunction for this smuggling scheme to have turned deadly.”

The case was investigated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.