A 32-year-old Houston man has been charged with conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants, according to an announcement made by U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. A Laredo grand jury returned an indictment on Tuesday against defendant Brodrick Keith Rhodes, who was originally charged by criminal complaint.

According to an LMT Online report, Rhodes is set to appear before a U.S. magistrate judge soon. Authorities stopped Rhodes after he approached the Free Border Patrol checkpoint in San Diego, Texas, in January as he drove a semi-truck and refrigerated trailer.

He claimed that he was hauling lettuce and produced a bill of lading, as stated under the complaint.However, the law enforcement allegedly noticed discrepancies, and Rhodes appeared to be nervous.

Furthermore, the refrigerated trailer was set to 30 degrees, but the internal temperature was at 68. The complaint added that authorities discovered the 119 illegal immigrants after a K-9 alerted a possible presence of contraband in the trailer's cargo area and a subsequent inspection. 

Related story: 71 Migrants, Including Children, Found Inside Tractor-Trailer to be Smuggled to Texas Border

The Smuggling of Illegal Immigrants

Rhodes has said that he worked for a business in La Porte. But the bill of lading indicated that he was transporting lettuce from a Laredo produce company to a location in Sugar Land.

According to the complaint, the business then indicated Rhodes had never been employed with them, nor do they transport outside the Houston area. The complaint further alleged that two other companies confirmed that they had no record of the shipment at that time.

Some of the transported illegal immigrants said they had been taken to and told to get in the truck. It then left soon after and did not stop until it reached the checkpoint, the complaint said.

According to a Woodlands Online report, Rhodes is facing up to 10 years in prison and a maximum possible $250,000 fine if convicted with the charges filed against him.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations and the Border Patrol conducted the investigation. Meanwhile, prosecuting the case is Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul A. Harrison. 

Human Smuggling Attempts

This was not the first time a human smuggling attempt ended in the suspect's apprehension and conviction. Last year, a Mexican citizen was sentenced to federal prison after a failed human smuggling attempt that left seven people dead in southeast Texas.

Last Jul. 9, 31-year-old Ivan Dario Puga-Moreno was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to transport unlawfully present aliens into the United States that caused death or serious bodily injury, My Texas Daily reported.

In a guilty plea, Puga-Moreno admitted to driving a Chevrolet Suburban, fleeing police, and crashing in a ditch near Robstown, Texas in June 2019.

A statement from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said that Puga-Moreno had attempted to smuggle "18 unlawfully present aliens with brush guide Agustin Gutierrez-Gonzalez, who was from his hometown in Mexico." 

Read also: NATO Steps in to Prevent People-Smuggling Between Greece, Turkey in the Aegean Sea