James Matthew Bradley Jr., 60, was indicted on five counts related to the deaths of 10 people illegally immigrating to the US
The driver of a tractor-trailer packed with people illegally entering the United States in an alleged human smuggling operation was indicted Wednesday on charges related to the deaths of 10 people inside.
James Matthew Bradley Jr., 60, was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in San Antonio on five counts, including a count of illegally transporting immigrants for financial gain, resulting in death, and a separate count of conspiracy to transport immigrants illegally, resulting in death.
Those charges carry the possibility of the death penalty. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in San Antonio declined to say Wednesday if prosecutors would pursue the death penalty. One of Bradley’s attorneys did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Bradley claimed in court that he didn’t know there were people in the back of the tractor trailer he was driving until he opened the doors and was ‘surprised when he was run over by “Spanish” people and knocked to the ground’
10 people lost their lives. Seven were identified as Mexicans heading to the US in search of jobs. One victim was Guatemalan and returning to his family in Maryland after being deported
In late July 2017 the tractor-trailer Bradley was driving was discovered in a Walmart parking lot in San Antonio, Texas with 39 people inside
Bradley was also indicted on two counts related to illegally transporting immigrants resulting in serious bodily injury, and one count of firearm possession by a convicted felon. The indictment alleges Bradley, who pleaded guilty in 1997 to a felony domestic violence case in Colorado, was in possession of a .38-caliber pistol.
At least 39 people were inside the trailer as it drove from the border city of Laredo to San Antonio, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north. The trailer’s refrigeration system was broken, and investigators said passengers struggled to breathe as the temperature rose to dangerous levels. One witness told The Associated Press he heard people crying and asking for water.
Twenty-two survivors have been released from the hospital and are being held in detention as potential witnesses against Bradley. Two survivors remained hospitalized as of Wednesday.
Four of the survivors testified before the grand jury, said Michael McCrum, a San Antonio attorney appointed to represent them.
‘They came to America wanting just to work, as they could not find a job in Mexico that could support their families. And yet, the circumstances of what happened brought them to this situation,’ McCrum said in an email. ‘They were asked to tell the truth about how they suffered, and they did.’
Investigators have said they believe Bradley was part of a broader conspiracy funding and planning the smuggling operation, though they have not announced any additional arrests or charges.
The truck’s refrigeration system was broken and passengers struggled to breathe as the temperature rose to dangerous levels
The indictment alleges that Bradley was in possession of a .38-caliber pistol
Human smuggling operations are often linked to Mexican drug cartels and Border Patrol has had an increase in arrests via tractor-trailers in the past few months
According to a criminal complaint released in July, Bradley told investigators that the trailer had been sold and he was transporting it for his boss from Iowa to Brownsville, Texas. But he said he had driven to Laredo and stopped twice there before driving back to San Antonio, in the opposite direction from Brownsville.
He denied knowing people were inside the trailer. After hearing banging and shaking, he opened the door and was ‘surprised when he was run over by ‘Spanish’ people and knocked to the ground,’ according to the criminal complaint.
Human smuggling operations often linked to Mexican drug cartels are a major problem for law enforcement along the United States’ southern border. Border Patrol agents in West Texas found 20 people crammed in a semitrailer just this week, one day after police in the border city of Edinburg discovered 16 people inside another trailer.
Most of the people known to have been on board were from Mexico. Others are believed to have fled from the truck after it stopped.