Sept. 26, 2006

 

DRIVER SENTENCED IN WRECK
THAT KILLED 3 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

 

WICHITA, KAN. – A Mexican citizen who was driving a truck that overturned in February near Rolla, Kan., killing three illegal aliens has been sentenced to 57 months with no parole in federal prison.

Fernando Tello Del Pilar, 22, was sentenced Monday during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Monti Belot.

“The defense made the argument for a lesser sentence that Fernando Tello Del Pilar did not know the truck he was driving had mechanical problems and was unsafe to operate,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren. “He knew, however, that he was unlawfully transporting illegal aliens. He also knew that the Ford F-150 pickup he was driving was not designed to safely transport 19 people.”

Pilar pleaded guilty in June to one count of unlawfully transporting illegal aliens resulting in a death. In his plea, he admitted that on Feb. 15, 2006, he picked up 19 illegal aliens in Phoenix and transported them in a 1997 Ford F-150 pickup. He agreed to take them to destinations in the Southeast including Atlanta and Myrtle Beach, S.C.

At about 6:40 a.m. Feb. 21, 2006, he was driving eastbound on U.S. 56 near Rolla, Kan., when a rear wheel on the vehicle locked up as a result of the loss of differential gear fluid. He lost control of the pickup, which tumbled end-over-end, ejecting all occupants, nine of whom were in the passenger compartment, and 11 of whom were unrestrained in the bed of the truck under an aluminum camper shield. Three persons died in the crash.

“This was a worst case scenario that points to the inherent dangers of this form of human smuggling,” Melgren said. “In case after case, we see smugglers driven by a desire for profit charging undocumented aliens for transportation in unsafe conditions.”

Melgren commended the Kansas Highway Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson, who prosecuted the case.

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