El Paso jury convicts man in deadly human smuggling case

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- An El Paso federal jury convicted a man from Mexico of five counts for his role in a deadly conspiracy to smuggle undocumented migrants, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said Monday.

Juan Juan Carlos Lara-Quezada -- also known as "Ironman" -- led a human smuggling organization that would smuggle people into the U.S. through Santa Teresa, New Mexico, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

After entering the U.S., the migrants would be picked up and driven to a stash house in El Paso to stay in while waiting for further transportation, officials said.

In 2024, the organization smuggled a woman and her son-in-law into the U.S. The woman reportedly got sick while traveling, officials said. The smugglers were told to drop the woman off at a hospital in El Paso. On the way, a guide and driver allegedly abandoned the woman and her son-in-law at a neighborhood, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

A passing driver saw the two and called emergency services. The woman later died at a hospital, officials said. Environmental heat exposure caused her death.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations led to Lara-Quezada's death in December 2024, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

In April 2, 2025, Lara-Quezada received a charge for conspiracy to transport migrants result in death, conspiracy to harbor migrants, transporting migrants resulting in death, conspiracy to bring in migrants and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, officials said.

He's convicted on all five charges, and his sentencing is set for Nov. 2, according to officials.

Others involved in the smuggling operation have been sentenced earlier this year, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Officials aid all defendants in the care are from Mexico and charged with the woman's death.

• Juan David Vaquera-Guerrero: 46 months in prison
• Carlos Omar Lara-Muniz: 57 months in prison
• Ruben Esquivel-Gomez: 72 months in prison