In a hearing in United States District Court, the defendant, Jose Cruz Noguez, pleaded guilty today on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, to charges stemming from the smuggling incident that occurred on March 2, 2021. The incident resulted in the deaths of thirteen people when the vehicle they were concealed in collided with a tractor-trailer near Holtville, California.
Cruz Noguez admitted that he and his co-conspirators sought to smuggle a large number of undocumented migrants into the United States by loading them into modified SUVs and breaching an area of the international boundary fence between Mexico and the United States near Calexico, California. Cruz Noguez committed various acts in the days leading up to March 2, 2021, for the purpose of carrying out the conspiracy. He attempted to recruit at least one criminal associate to drive a load vehicle containing as many as 20 undocumented migrants.
During the early morning hours of March 2, 2021, before the smuggling event, Cruz Noguez used his vehicle to scout the area that the load vehicles would be traveling. After confirming there was no law enforcement in the area, the defendant’s co-conspirators loaded dozens of undocumented migrants into two modified SUVs and drove them into the United States through a breach they had cut in the international boundary fence. Once successfully in the United States, the two load vehicles traveled west along Interstate 8. As has been reported in the media, one of the vehicles, a GMC Yukon, caught fire on Interstate 8 near Highway 115. Shortly thereafter, the other vehicle, a Ford Expedition, collided with a tractor-trailer on Highway 115 near Holtville, California, resulting in the deaths of thirteen individuals in the Ford Expedition.
Cruz Noguez pleaded guilty to a Superseding Information charging him with one count of Conspiracy to Bring in Undocumented Migrants and three counts of Bringing In Undocumented Migrants for Financial Gain. The charges carry a five-year mandatory minimum sentence. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 9, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo.
The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California initially indicted Cruz Noguez on April 27, 2021. Following further investigation, the USAO charged him and another individual (who remains a fugitive) in a Third Superseding Indictment on July 15, 2022. Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), which was created in June 2021 by the Attorney General in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), supported this case. JTFA helps to combat human smuggling and trafficking networks operating in Central America and Mexico, presenting national security risks, and engaging in other types of transnational organized crime. The program is a law enforcement commitment from DHS, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and other partners.
See more in News.