Defendant in Fatal Tractor Trailer Smuggling Incident Pleads Guilty

SAN ANTONIO – Christian Martinez, 29, of Palestine, TX, entered a plea of guilty today to multiple counts arising from a fatal tractor trailer smuggling incident. 

Martinez pleaded guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Transport Illegal Aliens Resulting in Death; one count of Conspiracy to Transport Aliens 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.

Martinez and co-defendant Homero Zamorano Jr., 47, of Elkhart, TX, the driver of the tractor trailer, were initially charged by indictment on July 20, 2022.  Four other co-defendants were identified and charged in a superseding indictment on June 7, 2023: Riley Covarrubias-Ponce aka Rrili aka Rilay, 30; Felipe Orduna-Torres aka Cholo aka Chuequito/Chuekito aka Negro, 29; Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal aka Cowboy, 38; and Armando Gonzales-Ortega aka El Don aka Don Gon, 54,

The indictment alleges that in the days leading up to June 27, 2022, Covarrubias-Ponce, Orduna-Torres, and others exchanged the names of undocumented noncitizens who would be smuggled in an upcoming tractor-trailer load.  The four additional defendants charged in the superseding indictment allegedly orchestrated the retrieval of an empty tractor-trailer and its corresponding hand-off to the driver on June 27. According to the superseding indictment, Martinez drove Zamorano from Palestine to San Antonio where Zamorano picked up the empty tractor-trailer. Orduna-Torres allegedly provided the Laredo address at which Zamorano loaded the migrants into the tractor trailer.  The indictment also alleges that Gonzalez-Ortega traveled to Laredo to meet the tractor-trailer, where at least 66 undocumented individuals, including eight children and one pregnant woman, were loaded for smuggling.  Martinez, Covarrubias-Ponce, Orduna-Torres, Rivera-Leal, and Gonzales-Ortega then coordinated, facilitated, passed messages, and made each other aware of the tractor-trailer’s progress. 

Martinez is scheduled to be sentenced on January 4, 2024, and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas and HSI Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee, San Antonio Division, made the announcement.

HSI is investigating the case with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and has received tremendous support from Customs and Border Protection; Border Patrol; Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations; the San Antonio Police Department; the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office; the San Antonio Fire Department; the Marshall Police Department; and the Palestine Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric Fuchs, Sarah Spears and Amanda Brown are prosecuting the case.

These charges resulted in coordination with Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA). The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas is part of the JTFA, which was established by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in June 2021 to marshal the investigative and prosecutorial resources of the Department of Justice, in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to enhance U.S. enforcement efforts against the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. The Task Force focuses on disrupting and dismantling smuggling and trafficking networks that abuse, exploit, or endanger migrants, pose national security threats, and are involved in organized crime. JTFA consists of federal prosecutors and attorneys from U.S. Attorneys’ Offices along the Southwest Border (District of Arizona, Southern District of California, Southern District of Texas, and Western District of Texas), from the Criminal Division and the Civil Rights Division, along with law enforcement agents and analysts from DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection’s U.S. Border Patrol, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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