SAN ANTONIO—In the chaotic minutes after dozens of illegal immigrants were found dead inside a tractor-trailer sweltering under the Texas sun, the driver tried to slip away by pretending to be one of the survivors, a Mexican immigration official said Wednesday.
The American truck driver, along with another U.S. citizen and two other men, remained in custody as the investigation continued into the tragedy that killed 53 people in the nation’s deadliest smuggling episode on the U.S.–Mexico border. Federal prosecutors said two of the suspects, including the driver, face charges that carry a potential sentence of life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.
