Texas man pleads guilty to trying to smuggle two people into U.S. in flag-draped coffint
said on Tuesday. Zachary Taylor Blood, 33, admitted to one count of alien smuggling after he was arrested at a checkpoint in October, according to U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Federal investigators say on October 26, 2021, Blood drove a gray van modified to transport caskets to the Border Patrol checkpoint near Falfurrias, Texas. When asked by border officials what was inside, Blood allegedly replied:"Dead guy, Navy guy." Authorities got suspicious when they noticed the coffin was in poor condition and packing tape was used to attach the flag to the top. After a second inspection, law enforcement discovered two Mexican nationals,"both unlawfully present within the United States, concealed inside the coffin."
The two men admitted to paying a smuggler to get them to San Antonio, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. They said after crossing the river into the U.S. they were taken to a parking lot where Blood was waiting for them. Blood then told them to get into the coffin and began driving north, prosecutors say.
A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent keeps watch at a checkpoint station, on Feb. 22, 2013, in Falfurrias, Texas.Blood, of Galveston, Texas, faces up to five years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine. He will remain in custody until he is sentenced in May.with human smuggling after the bodies of four people, including a baby and a teenager, were found in Canada near the U.S. border
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