TUCSON, ARIZONA — A Weatherford, Texas truck driver was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison for a 2024 crash on Interstate 10 near Tucson that killed one of the four undocumented passengers he was smuggling for pay, seriously injured two others including a 16-year-old, and ejected the victim from the truck on impact.
Moises Gabriel Castillo Jr., 40, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Márquez and will serve three years of supervised release following his prison term. He previously pleaded guilty to Transportation of Illegal Aliens for Profit Placing in Jeopardy the Life of Any Person, Causing Serious Bodily Injury and Resulting in Death.
The crash occurred on July 24, 2024, on I-10 near Rita Road when Castillo’s commercial semi-truck collided with another semi-truck. Four people concealed inside his truck were determined to be undocumented immigrants. One passenger was ejected and pronounced dead at the scene. Two others, one of whom was 16 years old, suffered serious bodily injuries. The fourth passenger was not reported injured.
Surviving passengers told investigators they were paying to be smuggled further into the United States. Castillo admitted he expected payment for transporting them.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Arizona Department of Public Safety and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona in Tucson.
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