Accused migrant smuggler pleads not guilty
EL CENTRO — Jose Cruz Noguez, the Mexicali man who was charged in coordinating the March 2 crash near Holtville that killed 13 undocumented migrants, pleaded not guilty to all counts filed against him during his arraignment Wednesday at the federal courthouse here.
Noguez is facing four felony charges: one count of conspiracy to bring undocumented migrants to the United States, and three counts of bringing undocumented migrants without presentation for financial gain.
His motion hearing is scheduled to take place at 10:30 a.m. June 4 before district Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo.
Noguez appeared remotely before magistrate Judge Ruth Bermudez Montenegro and was provided a Spanish-English court-certified interpreter.
Noguez, a legal permanent resident of the United States who has spent time in San Jose, Calif., was taken into custody on the night of March 29 after crossing from Mexicali at the Calexico port of entry.
He was 47 years old at the time of his arrest, and remains in custody of the court’s jurisdiction.
According to an indictment filed Tuesday, the grand jury alleges that Noguez was in the Imperial Valley prior to his arrest.
The indictment reads that Noguez entered the United States at the pedestrian Calexico west port of entry on or about March 1 to make final preparations for the March 2 smuggling event.
According to the Department of Justice’s timeline of events on March 2, Border Patrol agents from the El Centro Border Patrol Station received a report from the California Highway Patrol at 5:56 a.m. of more than a dozen individuals running away from a burning GMC Yukon SUV and into the desert in Holtville.
Agents responded to the area and extinguished the fire at 6:10 a.m. They also followed foot tracks into the desert, and apprehended 19 individuals hiding in the surrounding brush.
Separately, about 6:05 a.m., a Remote Video Surveillance System operator at the Calexico Border Patrol Station spotted multiple vehicles and approximately 20 individuals gathered in a remote area just south of the U.S./Mexico border.
The operator also noticed that the border fence in the area had been breached, and an approximately 10-foot section of it had been removed and was laying on the ground in Mexico.
Agents then reviewed video footage from the area and discovered that two vehicles had crossed through the fence at approximately 5:23 a.m. One was the GMC Yukon, and the other was a Ford Expedition.
At 7:05 a.m., Border Patrol agents at the Calexico Station received a request from the Calexico Police Department to assist with a mass-casualty vehicle crash in Holtville.
Agents responding to the crash identified one of the vehicles involved as the Ford Expedition that recently had breached the border fence.
A total of 25 individuals had been in the Expedition at the time of the crash.
Subsequent inspection of the Expedition revealed that all but the driver and front passenger seats had been removed, presumably to fit that large number of people.
Twelve occupants of the Ford died at the scene. Another died on the way to El Centro Regional Medical Center.
The 13 dead were identified as Mexican and Guatemalan nationals.
The surviving 12 individuals were transported to various hospitals, including facilities in San Diego and Palm Springs.
Many of the survivors were diagnosed with serious injuries.