Human smuggler who beat, abandoned 2 brothers in Arizona desert gets 6 years

A human smuggler who repeatedly beat two Chinese brothers as he guided them through the southern Arizona desert was sentenced last week to six years in federal prison.

Miguel Martinez-Meraz, 56, of Jalisco, Mexico, was sentenced in Tucson. He pleaded guilty to transporting a person in the country illegally for profit and illegal re-entry after deportation.

The group asked Border Patrol for rescue after days in the desert

Border Patrol agents caught Martinez-Meraz on Jan. 16, 2025, after responding to a 911 call about a group in distress in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge near Ajo.

The brothers, both citizens of China, each paid $3,000 to be smuggled into the United States. Martinez-Meraz walked them through the desert after they crossed the border.

When one brother started slowing down, Martinez-Meraz beat him and left him behind in the desert, prosecutors said. He held the other brother at knifepoint, threatening to kill him if he stopped moving. Over roughly five days, the guide beat the man repeatedly, took his remaining water and told him to drink his own urine.

The abandoned brother, alone in the desert for days, climbed a mountain looking for any sign of help. He spotted the blue light of an emergency rescue beacon, made his way to it and called 911. Border Patrol agents rescued him.

Martinez-Meraz and the other brother were found separately after also calling for help.

Martinez-Meraz was previously deported in 2024 and re-entered the country without authorization. He was on supervised release from a prior federal conviction when he committed the offenses, prosecutors said.

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