Two men convicted in the smuggling deaths of 53 immigrants in San Antonio
The 2022 tragedy was the nation’s deadliest smuggling attempt across the U.S.-Mexico border.

By Associated Press
March 18, 2025
9 PM Central


A makeshift memorial is seen outside San Antonio on June 30, 2022, where community members paid their respects to the 53 immigrants who perished after being smuggled into the United States in a trailer that was not air-conditioned. Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune

SAN ANTONIO — Two smugglers charged after 53 immigrants died in the back of a sweltering tractor-trailer with no air conditioning were found guilty Tuesday after a two-week trial. The 2022 tragedy in San Antonio was the nation’s deadliest smuggling attempt across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Jurors in federal court in San Antonio took only about an hour to convict Felipe Orduna-Torres and Armando Gonzales-Ortega, finding that they were part of a human smuggling conspiracy that resulted in death and injury. They face up to life in prison and have a June 27 sentencing date.

The immigrants had come from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico and had paid between $12,000 and $15,000 each to be smuggled into the United States, according to an indictment in the case. They had made it as far as the Texas border city of Laredo when they were placed into a tractor-trailer with broken air conditioning for a three-hour drive to San Antonio.

As the temperature inside the trailer rose, those inside screamed and banged the walls of the trailer for help or tried to claw their way out, investigators said. Most eventually passed out. When the trailer was opened in San Antonio, 48 people were already dead. Another 16 were taken to hospitals, where five more died. The dead included six children and a pregnant woman.

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