ECTOR COUNTY, Texas — Two Guatemalan men have plead guilty to their part in a human smuggling conspiracy that resulted in a woman's death.
Armando Gael-Galicia, 26 and Jose Diego Tercero-Gonzalez, 22 were in federal court on Sept. 29.
The two men who lived in Texas plead guilty to conspiracy to transport and harbor aliens for financial gain and resulting in death.
Each man will face a statutory maximum penalty of life in prison.
Back in May 2021, a young Guatemalan woman's body was found in a remote area outside of Odessa. Authorities have not publicly identified the woman at this time.
In August of that year, the two men were arrested in or near the location of the trailer where the victim had died.
During the investigation authorities found additional migrants, ledgers and over 100 cell phones.
Gael-Galicia and Tercero-Gonzalez aren't the only people recently arrested for human smuggling attempts, according to a press release by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Felipe Diego Alonzo, 38; Nesly Norberto Martinez Gomez, 37; Lopez Mateo Mateo, 42; and Juan Gutierrez Castro, 45; were arrested and indicted in August 2022.
The DOJ alleges they are also responsible for the death of the woman found in Odessa.
These four also reportedly conspired with other smugglers to move migrants from Guatemala to Mexico and then the U.S., charging the migrants and their families $10,000-12,000 for the journey.
These arrests are part of Joint Task Force Alpha, an initiative started by the U.S. Attorney General in 2021 to combat human smuggling and trafficking.
