SAN ANTONIO – A man who led Medina County sheriff’s deputies on a fatal high-speed chase while transporting a group of migrants was sentenced Thursday to 16 years in federal prison.
According to court documents, Joseph Alex Hernandez, 27, of Austin, led deputies on a chase that reached speeds of up to 100 mph after they attempted a traffic stop on April 24, 2022.
Recommended Videos
About seven minutes later, a rear tire in Hernandez’s pickup truck gave out, resulting in the vehicle rolling over multiple times before coming to a crashing halt on a grassy median, federal officials said.
Hernandez was transporting 13 migrants, including eight who were lying down in the covered truck bed, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas said. Three of the migrants were airlifted from the scene, and the rest were transported via ambulance to local hospitals. Several days later, two of the migrants died in the hospital.
While providing medical treatment, Emergency Medical Services personnel discovered that Hernandez was carrying a loaded pistol, officials said.
A federal judge in San Antonio sentenced Hernandez to 192 months in prison for one count of conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death and 120 months for one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The two sentences will run concurrently.
“This case is another unfortunate and tragic example of how dangerous smuggling humans across the border has become,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. “The defendant in this case put thirteen lives at risk in an attempt to evade law enforcement. Sadly, his actions led to two of those individuals paying the ultimate price.”