Two Smugglers Sentenced in Death of Illegal Alien

McALLEN, Texas – Two Mexican Citizens have been ordered to federal prison following their conviction of human smuggling which resulted in the death of one of the aliens, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Imer Ares-Chagolla, 36, and Ismael Rivera-Lopez, 19, pleaded guilty April 1, 2019.   

Today, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa ordered Ares-Chagolla to 87 months in prison. The court found Rivera-Lopez was a minor participant in the event and sentenced him to a 46-month term of imprisonment.

Ares-Chagolla and Rivera-Lopez served as brush guides for a group of aliens who had illegally crossed the Rio Grande River from Mexico into the United States.

On the afternoon of July 17, 2018, authorities located the group, learned one of its members was missing and possibly in distress and began emergency search operations in the area.

A female citizen of El Salvador was soon found unresponsive in the South Texas brush country near Sullivan City. Authorities provided emergency medical treatment and transported her to a local hospital. However, she ultimately died from multiple organ failures due to shock related to heat stroke.

That day, the temperature was determined to effectively be 110 degrees in the brush.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations spearheaded the investigation with the assistance of Border Patrol and Sullivan City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert L. Guerra Jr. prosecuted the case.