A trucker from Louisiana looking to earn $50,000 in one trip faces a possible prison sentence after a federal jury convicted him on human smuggling charges. The man tried to move 52 migrants in a tractor-trailer.
Late last week, 47-year-old Roderick Dewayne Chisley from Monroe, Louisiana, tried to fight the charges against him in a in Laredo, Texas, but lost after a three-day trial. Jurors found him guilty of a charge of human smuggling conspiracy and one count of transporting illegal migrants in a stolen tractor-trailer.
Chisley is facing a possible sentence of up to 10 years behind bars and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing has been set for a later date.
The case began in December when Chisley approached a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint along I-35, north of Laredo. He was driving a white Freightliner Cascadia hauling a white Stoughton trailer.
While Chisley managed to initially make it past the primary inspection booth, agents stopped him after receiving notice that the trailer he was reported stolen. Authorities stopped the vehicle and soon after a police dog alerted to people inside the trailer. When agents opened the trailer, they found 52 migrants.
According to court documents, Chisley admitted he was approached by a man in Laredo and was offered $50,000 for driving the trailer to San Antonio, Texas. He also mentioned to agents he was not told what he would be hauling and was not provided a manifest.
Luisana Moreno is a contributing writer for Breitbart Texas.