HOUSTON (AP) — A seventh person has been arrested for her alleged role in a smuggling operation that led to the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants who had been packed into a sweltering tractor-trailer.
Authorities said Norma Sanchez-Gonzalez arranged for two people to be smuggled into the country, one for $1,900, the other for $1,800. One of those immigrants died in the trailer earlier this month.
Sanchez-Gonzalez, a 42-year-old Mexican citizen living in Houston, was arrested Friday and appeared in federal court Tuesday on immigrant smuggling charges.
Tyrone Williams, the driver of the truck, was arrested hours after 17 people were found dead May 14 in and around the trailer at a truck stop about 100 miles southwest of Houston. Two more people died in the hospital.