Alien smuggler heads to prison after hiding people in tractor bed and cabinets Publisher: U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas Dateline: Corpus Christi, Texas Date: 7 February 2024 Subjects: American Government , Crime, Trucking Topic: Deibi Ramos

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 46-year-old man has been convicted of unlawfully transporting undocumented aliens, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

A federal jury deliberated for 15 minutes following a one-day trial before convicting Deibi Ramos on Nov. 14, 2023.

U.S. District Judge David S. Morales has now ordered Ramos to serve 18 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by two years of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the court noted the number of aliens and manner of transportation was concerning.

On April 19, 2023, Ramos drove a tractor-trailer to the Border Patrol checkpoint near Sarita. The jury heard that a K-9 soon alerted to the sleeper area of the vehicle. Upon further inspection, law enforcement discovered 10 illegal aliens concealed beneath the bed compartment and in the cabinets of the tractor.

The jury saw evidence of phone calls on Ramos’ phone between him and one of the illegal aliens as well as a voice message from a smuggling coordinator. The message included pickup and drop-off instructions.

At the trial, the defense attempted to convince the jury that Ramos’ knowledge was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury did not believe those claims and found him guilty as charged.

Ramos was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Customs and Border Protection conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tyler Foster, Liesel Roscher and Yasmine Tucker prosecuted the case.

Updated February 7, 2024