HOUSTON, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- A Texas jury sentenced a truck driver to life in prison for his part in an illegal immigration scheme that resulted in 19 deaths.
Tyrone Williams was convicted of 58 smuggling counts and could have faced the death penalty for the 19 illegal immigrants who died while in his care, the Houston Chronicle reported Friday. However, the jury chose a prison sentence instead, and asked U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal to assign a prison sentence for a conspiracy count.
Williams was found guilty of driving a truck filled with as many as 100 illegal immigrants who found they were unable to breathe in the refrigeration trailer in which they were sealed. Nineteen of the passengers died from suffocation and dehydration.
"We didn't think he deserved the death penalty and the jury agreed," lead defense attorney Craig Washington said.
Washington said the same result could have been reached if prosecutors had offered Williams a plea agreement.
"I think they wasted $7 million of the taxpayers' money to end up with a result they could have gotten on a plea of guilty," he said.
