SAN ANTONIO – A man accused of smuggling dozens of undocumented immigrants last year in the back of a hot trailer has agreed to a plea deal with the federal government.
The truck driver, Drew Potter, agreed to plead guilty in the case that highlighted the dangerous human smuggling trade.
A Frio County sheriff's deputy's body camera captured the moment dozens of undocumented immigrants suffering from heat exhaustion were freed from a sweltering semi-trailer in the parking lot of a truck stop near Pearsall last September.
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"They were real sweaty, dehydrated (and had) heat exhaustion. Some of them we had to literally drag out of the back of the trailer because they couldn't walk," Deputy Jerry Reyna said at the scene last summer.
In all, 39 undocumented men, women and children were rescued from the trailer after spending up to five hours locked inside.
Witnesses pointed deputies to Potter, who was seen giving water to the immigrants and then putting them back inside the trailer.
Potter initially denied knowing what he was hauling.
Court records show under questioning Potter admitted to Homeland Security investigators that he posted a Craigslist ad looking for work as a "driver for hire" a month before his arrest.
He said he was contacted by two men who wanted him to drive trailers from Laredo to San Antonio.
Prior to being caught, Potter said he had picked up two other trailers.
Potter told investigators he knew he was "doing something illegal" but never checked the cargo area of the trailer, allegedly saying, "The less I know, the better."
Potter told the investigators he was paid $800 for the trip the day he was arrested.
When questioned, the immigrants said they were smuggled into the U.S. near Laredo and had been kept in various stash houses around Laredo before being taken to a warehouse to be loaded onto the trailer for the trip to San Antonio.
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Some said they resisted being put in the trailer and were "ordered or forced to get in."
At least one immigrant told investigators he saw Potter at the warehouse as they were loaded into the trailer.
As part of the plea agreement, Potter admitted he knew exactly what he was transporting.
Under the plea agreement, Potter will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport immigrants for the purpose of financial gain.
Potter is still waiting for his sentencing date to be set. While the charge carries a punishment of up to 10 years in federal prison, a maximum fine of $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release, the two sides have agreed to a sentence between 41 and 71 months.