The Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog
A man suspected of assisting in transporting illegal aliens into the United States for profit and without regard for their safety entered a plea of guilty at his arraignment on Monday.
As stated in court records, on July 23, 2017, San Antonio Police investigated a call leading them to a tractor-trailer parked behind a Walmart. Several illegal aliens were discovered standing while others were lying near the back of the trailer, and 61-year-old James Matthew Bradley Jr. was in the driver’s seat.
Among the 39 people found by police four of them were unaccompanied minors between the ages of 14 and 17. Eight of the aliens were found deceased in the trailer and two died later in the hospital. The illegals interviewed claimed the trailer carried up to 200 people during the course of the transit, and cited varying amounts Bradley had charged for the transportation services. Bradley affirmed that these allegations were true. He is being held pending sentencing on January 22, 2018 and faces a penalty as high as life in prison.
Bradley was compliant in handing over his tractor-trailer, more than $5,000 and a gun retrieved from inside the cab of the rig to the Government.
Bradley purportedly did not work alone, and his alleged co-defendant is an illegal alien who lives in Laredo, Texas. Pietro Silva Segura, 47, was initially charged by a federal grand jury trial on September 20, 2017. Those charges include one count of conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens for financial gain resulting in death, one count of conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens for financial gain resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy, and two counts of transporting illegal aliens resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy.
Silva was apprehended in Laredo and remains in federal custody awaiting extradition to San Antonio. Though Bradley pleaded guilty to the crimes he was charged with, Silva has only been indicted and has not been convicted of any crimes. As such he is considered innocent until his guilt is proven in a court of law.
If you or someone you love is suspected of human trafficking, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.