CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 39-year-old Brownsville man has been ordered to federal prison for smuggling individuals in a scheme that involved dangerous and life-threatening conditions, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Carlos Alberto Avila pleaded guilty Jan. 6, 2022.
Today, U.S. District Judge David S. Morales ordered Avila to serve 21 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.
At the hearing, the court heard additional evidence that the individuals were locked in the trailer for over three hours and were instructed to climb into the trailer and lay on top of ice. They likely would have been in there for four more hours. The court also learned they used a cell phone for light and crawled to the trailer door for warmth.
In handing down the sentence, the court noted Avila personally put a lock on the trailer, trapping the 26 individuals. Judge Morales noted they were stuck in near freezing and life threatening conditions.
On Oct. 26, 2021, Avila drove a 2019 Kenworth tractor-trailer into the Border Patrol (BP) checkpoint located near Falfurrias. Following a K-9 alert, the vehicle was referred to secondary inspection where authorities discovered 26 individuals in the locked trailer. Each were determined to be unlawfully present in the United States.
The undocumented aliens were located on top of ice and pallets of frozen broccoli. They reported they were afraid they would freeze to death due to being in the trailer for an extended period of time. The control temperature for the refrigeration unit was set at 33 degrees.
Avila will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Customs and Border Protection conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Parker Gochenour prosecuted the case.