A Glendale man, Steven Beltran-Lugo, has been sentenced to only 38 months in prison for his role in transporting two illegal aliens in March 2024, one of whom suffered fatal injuries after jumping out of the vehicle while it was moving.
The 19-year-old Beltran-Lugo pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Transport Illegal Aliens for Profit Placing in Jeopardy the Life of Any Person and Resulting in Death on October 1, 2024.
According to the Department of Justice, on March 6, 2024, Beltran-Lugo and his co-defendant, Cesar Velazquez-Munoz, picked up two illegal aliens near the border to transport them further into the United States. Beltran-Lugo was riding as a passenger in the front seat of the vehicle, and he was on the phone with a Phoenix-based smuggling coordinator throughout the event. When law enforcement began to follow the vehicle, the victim aliens were told to get out of the vehicle. One of the victims then jumped out of the vehicle while it was still moving at about 45 miles per hour. The driver accelerated as the second victim exited the moving vehicle and hit the pavement, causing a brain hemorrhage and internal bleeding. The victim eventually succumbed to these injuries and passed away at the hospital two days later.
Cesar Velazquez-Munoz is scheduled to be sentenced on March 31, 2025.
