VICTORIA, Texas (AP) - Prosecutors say a 36-year-old convicted human smuggler from Mexico linked to the deaths of two immigrants must live out his life in a U.S. prison.
Noe Aranda-Soto of San Carlos, Mexico, was sentenced Monday by a federal judge in Victoria.
Investigators say Aranda-Soto, who was in the U.S. illegally and lived in Houston, pleaded guilty in May to immigrant smuggling-related counts, including kidnapping resulting in death. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport immigrants for private financial gain resulting in death.
Aranda-Soto, in the plea deal, said some cases involved immigrants hidden in stash houses in Houston. Authorities say some female immigrants were held hostage.
Prosecutors say a 2010 rollover wreck near Victoria left one immigrant dead. Another immigrant died of exposure after being left in some brush.
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