Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Texas man sentenced to nearly five years in prison for smuggling 124 migrants in sealed tractor-trailer.
A Texas man who attempted to smuggle 124 migrants held in a sealed tractor-trailer at a Texas border checkpoint was given a nearly five-year prison sentence this week.
A federal judge sentenced David William McKeon to 57 months in prison after jurors convicted him of 20 counts of conspiracy. The verdict came after a two-day trial and two hours of deliberation.
“These smugglers are driven by human greed and heartlessness,” Craig Larrabee, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio, said in a statement. “HSI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners, such as Border Patrol, to maintain the integrity of our border and nation’s immigration law.”
At his trial, McKeon, 67, said he was recruited for the job days earlier at his birthday party. He picked up the truck from a dirt road and was given a fraudulent billing of lading in the parking lot of a Popeye’s restaurant.
From there, he drove to the checkpoint. Defense lawyers argued that McKeon wasn’t aware of the people inside the trailer, all of whom were noncitizens.
Nearly 400 officers responded to the school on May 24 in Uvalde, Texas, but more than 70 minutes elapsed before a Border Patrol tactical team breached the fourth-grade classroom where the gunman was hiding and stopped the carnage.
Two teachers and 19 children were murdered. A spokesperson for the City of Austin told Fox News Digital that Escott’s probe will examine “injuries sustained by the Uvalde shooting victims to determine whether there may have been opportunities to save lives had emergency medical care been provided sooner.”
Uvalde police officers and other law enforcement officers are seen responding to a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in a bodycam video recorded on May 24, 2022.
(Uvalde Police Department)
The review will likely encompass autopsies, medical records, emergency medical personnel records and other data.
“Our analysis is part of the criminal investigation through the Texas Rangers, so we will complete the report and turn that report over to the Rangers,” Escott told Fox News Digital. “I imagine it will inform that investigation.”
A federal jury deliberated for about two hours following a two-day trial before finding McKeon guilty on July 20 on one count of conspiracy to transport migrants.
McKeon will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Border Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Bajew and David Fawcett prosecuted the case.
The case dates back to April 20, when McKeon arrived at the Interstate 35 checkpoint operating a tractor-trailer. Agents heard suspicious noises coming from the trailer. When they opened the vent door, they discovered 124 migrants locked behind the doors.
During the trial, the jury heard that McKeon had been recruited at his birthday party a few days earlier. McKeon then picked up the tractor-trailer from a dirt road and was given a fraudulent bill of lading in the parking lot of a Popeye’s restaurant before driving to the checkpoint, authorities said.
Discover more from KossyDerrickent
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
