A Guatemalan citizen extradited to the U.S. has pleaded guilty for his involvement in orchestrating a human smuggling incident that led to the deaths of 53 illegal aliens and the injury of 11 others in 2022.
According to the Department of Justice, Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco was arrested in 2024 by local Guatemalan agencies pursuant to a DOJ request for his extradition to face trial in the United States. He was extradited to the U.S. in March 2025.
Miranda-Orozco’s arrest was part of a much larger operation across the country in which Guatemalan law enforcement officers executed multiple search warrants.
The DOJ announcement noted Miranda-Orozco “pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bring an alien into the United States resulting in death; aiding and abetting bringing an alien into the United States resulting in death; and aiding and abetting bringing an alien into the United States resulting in serious bodily injury.”
He is set to be sentenced on October 8 and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
The incident occurred in June 2022 when 64 illegal aliens were smuggled into the United States in a tractor-trailer. Investigators said the trailer traveled 156 miles from Laredo to San Antonio in 90-degree heat without working air conditioning.
Emergency medical services pronounced 48 of the 64 illegal aliens dead at the scene, and five later died in intensive care. Among the 53 deceased, there were six juveniles and at least one pregnant woman.
Pictures provided by the Department of Justice show clear signs of a struggle to escape, including scratch marks on the walls.
Miranda-Orozco was accused of conspiring with other human traffickers to smuggle several of the people who died in the tractor-trailer.
U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas said, “Sixty-four people suffered through sweltering Texas heat in the back of a smuggling trailer, leaving less than a dozen survivors clinging to life, all because smugglers like Miranda-Orozco decided profits were worth more than human lives. This guilty plea is another step toward justice for every one of those 64 and their families, and it sends a clear message that no matter where you attempt to hide, this office, the greater Department of Justice, and our law enforcement partners across the government will find you and hold you accountable.”
The case is being prosecuted by Alexandria Skinnion of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Joint Task Force Alpha Attorney Jose Luis Acosta.
The mass-casualty event occurred under the Biden administration. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott criticized the administration’s immigration policies at the time, saying they encouraged illegal immigration and human smuggling.
“These deaths are on Biden. They are a result of his deadly open-border policies. They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law,” said Abbott in 2022.
