Texas Man Convicted of Smuggling 73 People From Six Countries

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A South Texas man pleaded guilty June 1 to illegally transporting undocumented migrants within the United States following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Corpus Christi, Texas, with assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol.

Leonardo Davila Jr., 24-year-old resident of Mission, Texas, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to smuggling 73 people while driving an 18-wheeler.

On Feb. 8, Davila drove a tractor trailer into the Border Patrol checkpoint near Falfurrias, Texas. During inspection, a K-9 alerted authorities to the presence of concealed humans. Upon a search of the trailer, law enforcement discovered dozens of undocumented individuals.

In the trailer were nationals of Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Mexico and El Salvador. All 73 were later determined to be illegally present in the U.S.