Man pleads not guilty in trafficking case

One of the men accused of helping smuggle dozens of migrants from the U.S.Mexico border to San Antonio in an overheated tractor-trailer, resulting in the deaths of 53 of the migrants, has pleaded not guilty to four federal human trafficking charges.

Christian Martinez, 28, of Palestine in East Texas, made the plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Bemporad during an arraignment hearing at San Antonio’s federal courthouse Thursday.

Martinez allegedly worked with the truck driver, Homero Zamorano, to ferry the migrants from the Laredo area to San Antonio’s Southwest Side on June 27 in a big rig disguised as a produce truck.

The migrants who died, including three children, came from Mexico and Central America.

Authorities have described the incident as the worst human smuggling catastrophe in U.S history.

At the scene, San Antonio police officers discovered dozens of migrants deceased. Several more, who were incapacitated, were transported to area hospitals where they died. Temperatures that day hovered around 100 degrees, and experts said it could’ve been more than 140 degrees in the trailer.

Later, police officers found Zamorano, 46, hiding in the brush nearby, trying to disguise himself as one of the migrants.

After securing a warrant to inspect Zamorano’s cellphone, agents discovered text messages between him and Martinez discussing where to pick up the tractor-trailer in Laredo, leading to Martinez’s

arrest on June 29.

Last month, after Martinez and Zamorano were indicted by a federal grand jury, authorities said that Martinez and Zamorano had worked together on three prior smuggling trips.

But Michael Gross, who was appointed to represent Martinez, said at the time that his client might have been coerced into speaking with agents. Martinez attended special education classes and can’t read or write, Gross said.

At best, Gross said in July, the government’s allegations paint his client as a middleman.

“I do not mean to downplay the significance of the death of the 53 individuals,” Gross told Bemporad at the hearing in July. “However, Mr. Martinez was not present when either the air conditioner went out or when the decision to abandon those people was made.”

Both Martinez and Zamorano remain in federal custody.

The men each face four federal charges, including one count of transportation of illegal aliens resulting in death and one count of transportation of illegal aliens resulting in serious bodily injury.

If convicted, they face the death penalty or life in prison. The U.S. Attorney General’s Office has said it will decide whether to seek the death penalty at a later time.

Gross and David Shearer, another attorney appointed to represent Martinez, declined to comment on Martinez’s plea of not guilty.