Alien Smuggler Sentenced to Prison for Role in Fatal Smuggling Event

SAN DIEGO – Alberto Ubaldo Quintero-Rivas of Mexicali, Mexico, was sentenced in federal court today to 36 months in prison for smuggling unauthorized migrants into the United States in an event that lead to the death of one of the migrants.

According to his plea agreement, Quintero-Rivas brought two migrants into the United States near the Andrade Port of Entry – the easternmost border crossing on the California-Mexico border - on February 22, 2024. Quintero-Rivas guided the two migrants over the international boundary fence between the United States and Mexico, which stands at more than 30 feet tall in that area. While scaling the fence, one of the migrants, a 51-year-old man, fell. The migrant suffered a head injury and died from his injuries.

Border Patrol agents found Quintero-Rivas and the other migrant he had guided into the United States at a nearby RV park. An agent traveled to the nearby border wall to find out where the pair had entered the United States. It was there that the agent found the body of the deceased man and called for emergency medical services. EMS arrived on the scene and declared the man deceased.

Quintero-Rivas initially denied knowing the fallen man, but agents compared his shoeprints to prints found alongside the man’s body and discovered that they matched. The other migrant Quintero-Rivas smuggled told agents that she saw the man fall from the fence. She wanted to stay and help him, but Quintero-Rivas told her that he was in charge and instructed her to leave the fallen man and follow him.

“This tragic death serves as a haunting reminder that heartless smugglers would not – and in this case did not - hesitate to leave a man to die,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “As we seek justice for those lost, we remind anyone contemplating a similar journey that smugglers consider human lives simply as a transaction. Don’t trust your life to a smuggler.”

“Illegally crossing the border into the United States is a dangerous business, and callous smugglers have no value for human life,” said Yuma Sector’s Acting Chief Patrol Agent Dustin W. Caudle. “We are glad to see Alberto Ubaldo Quintero-Rivas brought to justice for his role in the death of this migrant. We also hope this acts as a reminder that crossing the border at any point other than a port of entry can have deadly consequences. It is not worth the risk.”

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Fawcett.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 24cr0600-RBM                          

Alberto Ubaldo Quintero-Rivas                     Age: 37                       Mexicali, Mexico

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Bringing In Aliens Resulting in Death – Title 8, U.S.C., Section 1324(a)(1)(A)(i) & (B)(iv)

Maximum penalty: Death or Life in Prison; $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

United States Border Patrol