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Man pleads guilty in tractor-trailer smuggling tragedy that killed 53 people in 2022

Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal is facing up to 20 years in prison

SAN ANTONIO – A 38-year-old man pleaded guilty this week for his role in a tractor-trailer smuggling case that killed 53 people in San Antonio in 2022.

Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal, also known as “Cowboy,” pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens placing lives in jeopardy, the United States Attorney’s Office said in a news release on Wednesday.

He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Authorities said Rivera-Leal was part of an organization that smuggled adults and children from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico to San Antonio. He would then drive smaller groups to Houston.

On June 27, 2022, the organization coordinated the transport of a group of migrants in a tractor-trailer from Laredo to San Antonio.

The group was smuggled through Interstate 35 and the truck ultimately stopped in the 9600 block of Quintana Road, where the migrants were left in the sweltering heat without ventilation, air-conditioning or water.

Forty-seven adults and six children died from their injuries.

Rivera-Leal is the fourth suspect in the case to plead guilty.

Riley Covarrubias-Ponce, 31; Christian Martinez, 29; and Juan Francisco D’Luna Bilbao have pleaded guilty to four charges, including one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death; one count of conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy; one count of transportation of illegal aliens resulting in death; and one count of transportation of illegal aliens resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy.

The driver of the truck, 47-year-old Homero Zamorano Jr. has a case pending. Other co-defendants Felipe Orduna-Torres, 29, and Armando Gonzales-Ortega, 54, also have cases pending.

Covarrubias-Ponce, Orduna-Torres and others allegedly exchanged the names of the migrants who were smuggled in the tractor-trailer load before the incident occurred, a previous news release states. They allegedly orchestrated the “retrieval” of the tractor-trailer before handing it off to Zamorano, officials said in a release.


About the Author
Rebecca Salinas headshot

Rebecca Salinas is the Digital Executive Producer at KSAT 12 News. A San Antonio native, Rebecca is an award-winning journalist who joined KSAT in 2019.

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