Latest Legal News from the Criminal Courts in Houston, Texas

April 26, 2007

JURY CONVICTS MISSISSIPPI TRUCK DRIVER OF TRANSPORTING ILLEGAL ALIENS

[LAREDO, TX] – A Laredo jury has convicted Marcus DeWayne McClenty, 35, of Canton, Mississippi, of knowingly transporting undocumented aliens by means of a motor vehicle, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.

The jury’s verdict was returned on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 at the end of the second day of trial. During the cours of the trial, the jury heard testimony from a Texas Department of Public Safety commercial vehicle enforcement trooper, who stopped McClenty at the 28 mile marker of Interstate 35, just south of the U. S. Border Patrol Immigration checkpoint, on February 10, 2007. During the inspection of the refrigeration trailer, the trooper found 17 undocumented Mexican and Guatemalan nationals sitting in an otherwise empty trailer. McClenty was arrested and found to be in possession of $6,000 in cash.

After his arrest, McClenty claimed he had traveled to Laredo from San Antonio in the tractor trailer without a load because he was bored and wanted to have fun in Mexico, but then changed his mind. After arriving in Laredo at about 6 p.m., and having dinner at a local truck stop, McClenty said he decided against going to Mexico. He told agents he had gone to a Walmart store instead, parked his unlocked tractor trailer between the Walmart and a Home Depot, and after two hours in Walmart, he just drove around before heading back to San Antonio.

However, the jury also heard the testimony of two of the Mexican nationals found in the truck. According to their testimony, each had traveled to Nuevo Laredo by way of bus from Guanajuato and entered the United States by wading the Rio Grande River in the vicinity of Laredo, Texas around February 6, 2007. Having come together as husband and wife, the aliens were picked up and housed and fed along with a group of other aliens for four days. On February 10, they were taken to a parked tractor-trailer in a dark area away from any buildings or lights. After their group of five aliens got on, the empty trailer doors were closed and then opened to allow successive groups of aliens to enter and hide. After the last of the aliens was on board, the tractor-trailer started moving and did not stop until they were stopped and discovered.

Following his arrest, McClenty claimed that the $6,000 cash, in sixty 100 dollar bills, found on his person was actually the result of some payments from his employer. However, McClenty’s former employer from Mississippi and owner of the tractor-trailer, contradicted McClenty’s statements concerning his presence in Laredo and how the money had been obtained. The case was investigated by State Troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Border Patrol, and Immigration Customs Enforcement and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Roberto F. Ramirez.

McClenty now faces a maximum punishment of 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and a three-year term of supervised release on each of the two counts of conviction.

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