San Antonio, TX – In a grim reminder of the dangers faced by undocumented aliens, 47-year-old Pedro Silva Segura faces up to life in federal prison after pleading guilty to his role in an undocumented alien smuggling operation that resulted in ten deaths last year.
Silva pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport undocumented aliens resulting in death, admitting to operating a stash house in Laredo, TX, used as a holding area for undocumented aliens awaiting transportation to final destinations in the U.S.
According to court records, Silva and 61-year-old James Matthew Bradley, Jr., who pleaded guilty on October 16, 2017, and is awaiting sentencing, conspired to transport undocumented aliens in a tractor-trailer rig. On the night of July 22, 2017, five undocumented aliens left the stash house and were delivered to a truck driven by Bradley, bound for San Antonio.
San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) officers responded to a call at the Wal-Mart store located at 8538 Interstate 35 in San Antonio shortly after midnight on Sunday, July 23, 2017. An officer encountered a tractor-trailer behind the store, finding a number of people standing and lying in the rear of the trailer, and the driver, Bradley, in the cab. At the scene, law enforcement officers discovered 39 undocumented aliens. Of the 39 aliens found at the scene, ten (10) died, eight (8) died in the trailer and two (2) died later in area hospitals.
Silva’s stash house in Laredo, TX, was used to hold undocumented aliens awaiting transportation to final destinations in the U.S. Court records further state that the undocumented aliens estimated the trailer contained between 70 and 180 to 200 people during transport, with differing fees for being transported.
On June 29, 2018, Silva is scheduled to be sentenced. Bradley faces up to life in federal prison and has agreed to forfeit to the Government his tractor-trailer rig, plus approximately $5,600 in U.S. currency and a .38 caliber pistol recovered from inside the cab.
The U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated this case together with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), the San Antonio Police Department and the San Antonio Fire Department. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Border Patrol assisted in this investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Christina Playton and Matthew Lathrop are prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Human Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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