Truck driver sentenced after undocumented migrant he was smuggling died in Tucson crash

A Texas man who smuggled four undocumented migrants who were in the country illegally in Tucson more than two years ago was sentenced to more than four years in prison, authorities announced Wednesday.

Moises Gabriel Castillo Jr., 40, was sentenced to 57 months in prison last week, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

He previously pleaded guilty to a charge of transporting people in the country illegally for profit, resulting in death and serious bodily injury, prosecutors said.

One of the undocumented migrants died in a crash in Tucson

The charge is related to a July 24, 2024, crash on Interstate 10 near Rita Road in Tucson, where prosecutors say he caused a crash between the commercial semi-truck he was driving and another vehicle.

Castillo had been transporting migrants who paid to be smuggled farther into the U.S., one of whom was ejected after the crash and died from their injuries, prosecutors said.

Two of the other passengers — one of whom was 16 years old — suffered serious injuries in the collision.

Castillo later admitted he expected to be paid for transporting them, prosecutors said.

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