偷运数百人入境的走私头目判终身监禁：一名女子被弃置路边死于高温
El Paso 位于德克萨斯州 El Paso County。美国司法部德克萨斯州西区联邦检察官办公室11月2日宣布，墨西哥籍男子 Juan Carlos Lara-Quezada 在 El Paso 的联邦法院被判终身监禁，他领导的人口走私组织偷运数百人入境，其中一名女子在偷渡途中被弃置路边、死于高温。
Lara-Quezada 现年33岁，绰号「Ironman」。根据法庭文件与庭审证据，他是一个在德克萨斯州西区与新墨西哥州区活动的外国人走私组织的头目。该组织经新墨西哥州 Santa Teresa 一带的沙漠偷运数百名无证移民入境，得手后由接应车辆把人送往 El Paso 的一处藏匿点，等候再转运到美国内地。
2024年，该组织偷运一名女子与其女婿入境，由向导带领徒步穿越沙漠约八小时，途中女子病倒。走私者接到指示，本应把她送往 El Paso 的医院而非藏匿点；但在送医途中，向导与司机把女子和她的女婿弃置在一个居民区的人行道上。一名路过的驾车者发现两人并报警，女子被送医后宣告死亡，死因为环境高温暴露。
由国土安全调查局（HSI）主导的调查使 Lara-Quezada 于2024年12月20日被捕。他在2025年4月2日的第二份替代起诉书中被控串谋运送外国人致死、串谋窝藏外国人、运送外国人致死、串谋带入外国人，以及串谋洗钱等五项罪名，今年8月被联邦陪审团全部定罪。五名同伙此前已先行判刑，刑期分别为46个月、57个月、72个月、120个月与36个月。
联邦检察官 Justin R. Simmons 表示，这些走私组织根本不在乎他们借以牟利的人的生命，「他们抛弃了一名由他们照管的女子、任她死在街头」；他的同伙服刑后将被遣返，而 Lara-Quezada 终身不得再离开监狱。HSI El Paso 负责人 Ryan G. McRae 表示，走私组织把脆弱的人当作商品，HSI 将继续与执法伙伴追查靠危害生命牟利的人。本案由助理联邦检察官 Mathew Engelbaum 与 Michael Williams 起诉，属国土安全任务组（HSTF）案件。（来源：美国司法部）
Smuggling Ring Leader Sentenced to Life in Prison: Woman Abandoned on Sidewalk Died of Heat Exposure
EL PASO, Texas — El Paso is in El Paso County, Texas. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas announced on November 2 that Juan Carlos Lara-Quezada, a Mexican national, was sentenced in a federal court in El Paso to life in prison for his role in a deadly conspiracy to smuggle and harbor illegal aliens.
Lara-Quezada, 33, also known as "Ironman," was a leader of an alien smuggling organization operating in the Western District of Texas and the District of New Mexico, according to court documents and evidence presented at trial. The organization smuggled hundreds of illegal aliens into the U.S. via the desert in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. After entering the U.S., the aliens were picked up and driven to a stash house in El Paso, where they remained until they were transported further into the United States.
In 2024, the organization smuggled a woman and her son-in-law into the U.S., using a foot guide to lead them on an eight-hour journey through the desert. On the journey, the woman fell ill. The smugglers were directed to drop her off at an El Paso hospital instead of the stash house, but en route the foot guide and driver instead abandoned the woman and her son-in-law on the sidewalk of a residential neighborhood. A passing motorist noticed the two and called emergency services. The woman was transported to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead due to environmental heat exposure.
An investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) resulted in Lara-Quezada's arrest on December 20, 2024. He was charged in a second superseding indictment on April 2, 2025, with conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death, conspiracy to harbor aliens, transporting aliens resulting in death, conspiracy to bring in aliens, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, and was convicted of all five charges by a federal jury in August. Five co-defendants were sentenced before him to 46, 57, 72, 120 and 36 months in prison, respectively.
"These organizations care nothing about the human lives from which they profit," said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons. "These smugglers abandoned a woman in their care and left her to die in the streets." Ryan G. McRae, special agent in charge of HSI El Paso, said smuggling organizations treat vulnerable people as commodities. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mathew Engelbaum and Michael Williams prosecuted the case, which is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
来源：美国司法部
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：位于 El Paso 的 Enrique Moreno County 法院大楼（资料图）。Xnatedawgx 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Enrique Moreno County Courthouse in El Paso (file photo). By Xnatedawgx, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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