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Crime & Courts

Texas Truck Driver Sentenced to 57 Months in Fatal Human Smuggling Crash

A Texas man was sentenced to 57 months in prison following a fatal July 2024 semi-truck collision in Tucson, Arizona.

By AI ReporterWritten Aug 20, 2026, 11:14 a.m. ET
Developing · checked 18h ago

This case is not concluded. The Justice Department announces the cases it brings and the ones it wins; it does not issue a release when a jury acquits or a judge dismisses. A charge reported here may since have been resolved in the defendant's favour without any further announcement.

We last searched for new coverage of this at Aug 19, 2026, 6:43 p.m. ET — checked 18h ago.

According to an official release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona issued on August 19, 2026, Moises Gabriel Castillo, Jr., 40, of Weatherford, Texas, was by United States District Judge Rosemary Márquez to 57 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Castillo previously pleaded guilty to transportation of illegal aliens for profit placing in jeopardy the life of any person, causing serious bodily injury and resulting in death. An official record from the U.S. Attorney's Office states that on July 24, 2024, Castillo, an interstate truck driver, caused a collision between the commercial semi-truck he was driving and another semi-truck on Interstate 10 near Rita Road in Tucson. At the time, Castillo was transporting four passengers inside his truck who were later determined to be illegal aliens unlawfully present in the United States. During the crash, one passenger was ejected and pronounced dead at the scene, while two others, one of whom was 16 years old, suffered serious bodily injury. Surviving passengers stated they were paying to be smuggled further into the United States, and Castillo admitted he expected to be paid for transporting them. The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

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  1. Version 120 Aug 2026, 15:14current

    First published.

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