Arkansas truck driver convicted of transporting illegal aliens from South Texas

LAREDO, Texas — A commercial truck driver from Kensett, Arkansas, pleaded guilty Aug. 12 to transporting illegal aliens.

The U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas, announced this guilty plea.  This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP), Border Patrol.

Marcus Randall Johnston, 42, pleaded guilty Aug. 12 before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker.

According to court records, Johnston was driving north on Interstate Highway 35 until reaching the CBP checkpoint near mile marker 29 on May 25. Although he denied having anyone hidden within the semi-tractor he was driving, agents discovered nine illegal aliens hiding within the cab behind and above the driver’s chair.  Eight aliens were from Mexico and one was from Ecuador. All of the transported aliens admitted they had entered the Rio Grande River from Mexico illegally. The aliens explained they had already paid $2,000 in advance and still owed the remaining smuggling fee of $6,000 to $6,500 required for being illegally transported from their native countries.

Upon his arrest Johnston, immediately confessed. He said he had agreed to smuggle the aliens from Laredo to Cotulla, Texas, for $4,000. Upon arriving at Cotulla, he expected to receive more specific instructions on where to drop off the aliens.

Johnston faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible fine of up to $250,000. He has been in custody since his arrest May 25. He will remain in custody pending sentencing before U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen to be set at a later date.

Assistant U.S. Attorney, Jose Homero Ramirez, Southern District of Texas, is prosecuting this case.