Two men were convicted for a human smuggling attempt that left dozens of people dead in San Antonio, Texas, in 2022.

On March 18, Felipe Orduna-Torres, 30, and Armando Gonzalez-Ortega, 55, were each convicted by a federal jury on one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death, resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy, one count of transportation of illegal aliens resulting in death, and one count of transportation of illegal aliens resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy. 

Officials say that Orduna-Torres and Gonzalez-Ortega were part of a human trafficking organization that loaded 66 people into a tractor trailer without a functional cooling system and drove them north across the U.S.-Mexico border and on a Texas interstate.

On June 27, 2022, “as the temperature rose, some of the migrants inside the trailer lost consciousness, while others clawed at the walls, trying to escape.” By the time that the semi truck arrived in San Antonio, 48 of the people inside the trailer were already dead. Five others died after being transported to hospitals.

Orduna-Torres and Gonzalez-Ortega are scheduled for sentencing on June 27, with the possibility of a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The driver of the truck, Homero Zamorano Jr., 48, of Elkhart, pleaded guilty in January 2025 to to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death, causing serious bodily injury, and placing lives in jeopardy; one count of transportation of aliens resulting in death; and one count of transportation of aliens resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy. He is scheduled for sentencing in April 2025 and could also face the maximum penalty of life in prison.

Officials also announced that Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco, 48, the alleged leader of a Guatemala-based human trafficking organization, will be extradited to the U.S. to face charges in connection with the mass casualty incident.

“These convictions and extradition represent the Justice Department’s commitment to prosecuting the leaders, organizers, and key facilitators of alien smuggling networks that bring people illegally — at significant risk to life — into the United States,” said Supervisory Official Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “It is a powerful example of the crucial work of Joint Task Force Alpha, which has been enhanced and empowered to go after cartels and transnational criminal organizations and to eliminate the scourge of human smuggling and trafficking.”