5 Charged in Immigrant Smuggling Scheme Following Fatal SUV Crash

A Border Patrol agent signals to the Customs and Border Protection helicopter crew that two aliens from a group of seven they tried to capture have escaped, near Salineno, Texas, on May 30. Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times

Authorities charged five people on Tuesday, June 20, for their roles in a scheme to smuggle illegal immigrants after an SUV crash in Texas killed at least five people.

Federal prosecutors have charged 20-year-old Jorge Luis Monsivais Jr. of Eagle Pass, 21-year-old Rudy Gomez of Hockley, 19-year-old Johana Gomez of Houston, 55-year-old Marcial Gomez Santana of Mexico and 45-year-old Mariela Reyna of Mexico, according to a Department of Justice statement.