Mexican national gets 12 years in prison for human smuggling
SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — A Mexican national now has a 12-year sentence in prison after she pled guilty to transporting illegal aliens.
According to court documents, Dulce Maria Almaguer-Morquecho, 43, of Nueva Rosita, Coahuila, Mexico was a stash house operator and facilitator, and she has also been ordered to pay $52,000 in restitution.
Almaguer-Morquecho was registered as the owner of multiple cars and a cell phone involved in human smuggling attempts between May 14, 2021 and January 17, 2022. Police say she was identified as having harbored illegal aliens and recruited drivers to move them. She paid those drivers $1,000 for every illegal immigrant that was transported.
Almaguer-Morquecho was arrested July 5, 2022. She plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens, causing serious bodily injury or placing lives in jeopardy on January 9, 2023.
Co-defendant Haley Yvonne Garrett was sentenced on August 15 to six years in prison for her role as a load driver for the organization. Garrett led law enforcement on high-speed chase through Del Rio, crashing into a Sonic restaurant and ejecting several undocumented noncitizens from her vehicle.
Several other co-defendants have received between three and five years in prison for their roles in the human smuggling conspiracy.