LAREDO, Texas (AP) — A Guatemalan man pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to a felony offense and acknowledged his involvement in an attempt to illegally smuggle migrants to the U.S. when a jampacked tractor-trailer truck crashed in Mexico in 2021, killing more than 50 migrants.
Daniel Zavala Ramos, 42, faces a possible sentence of life in prison following his guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Laredo, Texas, to a single charge of conspiring to bring migrants without documents from Guatemala through Mexico to the U.S. and placing lives in jeopardy, causing serious injuries and deaths, the U.S. Department of Justice stated.
Sentencing is set for July 7.
Ramos was among six Guatemalans charged over the crash of the semitrailer truck and is the first to be convicted. The other five have a final pretrial conference on June 3, according to court records. Ramos’ attorney did not immediately return an email Wednesday evening seeking comment.
At least 160 migrants, many from Guatemala, were packed into the truck that hit the support base for a pedestrian bridge on Dec. 9, 2021, and overturned, authorities said. At least 53 people were killed and more than 100 were injured, officials stated, with video footage of the crash showing dead and injured migrants in a jumbled pile within the truck’s collapsed freight container.
The Justice Department statement confirmed that the fatalities included unaccompanied children.
The crash occurred on a highway leading toward the Chiapas state capital, some 160 miles (260 kilometers) from Mexico’s border with Guatemala and about 1,400 miles (2,300 kilometers) south of the Mexican border with Texas.
Authorities announced the arrests of Ramos and the five other defendants in Guatemala and Texas in 2024, coinciding with the third anniversary of the accident. Ramos was extradited in 2025 from Guatemala to face charges, the DOJ stated.
Prosecutors reported that the Guatemalans conspired to smuggle migrants from Guatemala through Mexico to the U.S. for payment. In instances involving unaccompanied minors, defendants provided scripts for what to say if apprehended. The smugglers employed various methods to transport migrants, including on foot, in microbuses, cattle trucks, and tractor trailers, utilizing Facebook Messenger to manage identification documentation to facilitate their entry into the U.S.
Daniel Zavala Ramos, 42, faces a possible sentence of life in prison following his guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Laredo, Texas, to a single charge of conspiring to bring migrants without documents from Guatemala through Mexico to the U.S. and placing lives in jeopardy, causing serious injuries and deaths, the U.S. Department of Justice stated.
Sentencing is set for July 7.
Ramos was among six Guatemalans charged over the crash of the semitrailer truck and is the first to be convicted. The other five have a final pretrial conference on June 3, according to court records. Ramos’ attorney did not immediately return an email Wednesday evening seeking comment.
At least 160 migrants, many from Guatemala, were packed into the truck that hit the support base for a pedestrian bridge on Dec. 9, 2021, and overturned, authorities said. At least 53 people were killed and more than 100 were injured, officials stated, with video footage of the crash showing dead and injured migrants in a jumbled pile within the truck’s collapsed freight container.
The Justice Department statement confirmed that the fatalities included unaccompanied children.
The crash occurred on a highway leading toward the Chiapas state capital, some 160 miles (260 kilometers) from Mexico’s border with Guatemala and about 1,400 miles (2,300 kilometers) south of the Mexican border with Texas.
Authorities announced the arrests of Ramos and the five other defendants in Guatemala and Texas in 2024, coinciding with the third anniversary of the accident. Ramos was extradited in 2025 from Guatemala to face charges, the DOJ stated.
Prosecutors reported that the Guatemalans conspired to smuggle migrants from Guatemala through Mexico to the U.S. for payment. In instances involving unaccompanied minors, defendants provided scripts for what to say if apprehended. The smugglers employed various methods to transport migrants, including on foot, in microbuses, cattle trucks, and tractor trailers, utilizing Facebook Messenger to manage identification documentation to facilitate their entry into the U.S.
