A man who coordinated a human smuggling operation that led to an Imperial County crash that killed 13 people and injured several others was sentenced in San Diego federal court Thursday to 15 years in prison.
Jose Cruz Noguez pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges stemming from the March 2, 2021, crash near Holtville, where an SUV carrying the victims crashed into a tractor trailer at the intersection of Norrish Road and state Route 115.
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In the early morning hours of March 2, two SUVs drove through a cut-open portion of border fence near Calexico, then headed west onto Interstate 8, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
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One of the SUVs broke down on Interstate 8 near Holtville and 19 undocumented migrants were arrested there by U.S. Border Patrol agents, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The other SUV was involved in the fatal wreck, with a dozen victims dying at the crash scene and another who died at a hospital. The deceased victims ranged in age from 19 to 53 years old.
Prosecutors say 25 people were in that SUV, which was modified by removing the passenger seats in order to fit more people. Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Seth Askins said the victims were "crammed into that vehicle with no seats, no safety restraints. Stacked one on top of another from the floor to the ceiling of the vehicle like sardines."
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Cruz Noguez's involvement in the smuggling operation included trying to recruit a driver, collecting payment from the migrants and scouting for law enforcement in the area where the vehicles would be traveling.
Some time after the crash, Cruz Noguez told another person that he was trying to collect payment from those who survived the crash, according to prosecutors.
"They were product to be delivered," Askins said. "And if for some reason that particular product didn't make it, there's plenty more product waiting."
Defense attorney Norma Aguilar, who asked for a five year sentence, said Cruz-Noguez got involved in smuggling because he had few opportunities throughout his life for anything above hard labor and low-wage jobs. At the time, he was trying to help his ailing parents financially, she said. His parents both died while he was in custody for the fatal smuggling event.
At the sentencing hearing, Cruz Noguez said, "I want to apologize to the family members of those who died. I ask for their forgiveness."
His statement continued, "I'm not the person who caused the accident. I do accept that I was participating with that group. I would have tried anything to save those people, but it was not in my hands."
Verlyn Cardona survived the crash, but her 23-year-old daughter Yesenia was killed.
"I close my eyes and I see that day. People dead all around me. My daughter is dead as well," she told U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo. "It is something I don't wish for my worst enemy, because losing a child is like losing part of one's own life."
Cardona said the people who arranged the trip "never informed us about the way we were going to be transported in the vehicle."
Another survivor of the crash, Rene Zelando, said he was told it was "a sheer miracle" that he survived. Along with the physical injuries he sustained in the crash that continue to cause him pain, Zelando said he still deals with trauma over the memories of the crash.
"For me, it's something very painful. It's something I don't want to remember," he told the judge.
Both Cardona and Zelando said they sought to come to the United States in order to flee violence in their home countries.
Bencivengo imposed the maximum possible sentence for the counts Cruz Noguez pleaded guilty to.
The judge said, "There is absolutely nothing redeeming or humanitarian about this action. These people were treated like cargo. They were jammed into two cars to maximize the profit margin that the traffickers could make by putting as many people as possible into vehicles to get them transported into the United States with no concern about their health and safety. And the worst case scenario happened here."
Prosecutors also filed charges against another person, Froylan Cortez Avalos, who remains a fugitive.
According to the indictment, Cortez Avalos took part in the planning and preparation of the smuggling event, including working with others to cut open a 10-foot section of border fence in order to allow the vehicles to enter the United States.
