Arizona woman gets 10 years for fatal crash while transporting migrants

PHOENIX — An Arizona woman was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison for her role in a fatal crash while transporting migrants.

Sunshine Betters of Tucson, 47, was also sentenced to an additional 11 months for violating her federal supervised release on a previous conviction for transporting migrants, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona said in a press release.

Betters previously pleaded guilty in October 2022.

Prosecutors said police responded to a two-vehicle crash on June 3, 2021, on State Route 86 on the Tohono O’odham reservation. Authorities determined Betters was driving a vehicle that struck a truck, which caused her vehicle to go off the road and hit a tree.

One of the two migrants who were being transported in Betters’ vehicle was killed in the crash.

Further investigation concluded Betters was severely intoxicated and incorrectly thought she was being followed by Border Patrol, leading her to increase the speed of her vehicle.

Both intoxication and speed were contributing factors which resulted in the death of the migrant.

Homeland Security Investigations, Customs and Border Protections U.S. Border Patrol and the Tohono O’odham Tribal Police Department investigated the case.

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