A Houston woman who allegedly got into a car crash escaping the Border Patrol admitted this week to a federal judge that she was helping smuggle nine undocumented immigrants. One person died as a result of the crash.
Karin Aguilar-Melgor, 22, was the driver of a pickup that carried the group, court records show. In the small hours of February 25, around 3:30 a.m. Border Patrol agents, according to court records, saw a red Ford pickup being loaded with people on a Farm to Market Road near Falfurrias, which is around 78 miles from Corpus Christi.
When agents approached the vehicle, it fled, leaving one of the undocumented immigrants behind, whom agents took into custody. About five miles down the road, agents said the vehicle crashed into a tree. Agents discovered eight more people, including the driver, Aguilar-Melgor.
She faces up to 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine.
This article appears in Jun 5-11, 2014.
