Tucson man Michael Lopez-Loreto, 22 years old, has been sentenced 30 months with three years of supervised release.
The sentence was finalized by United States District Judge Rosemary Marquez last week. Lopez-Loreto pled guilty on February 9 to “Conspiracy to Transporting Illegal Aliens for Profit Placing in Jeopardy the Life of Any Person.”
On January 17, U.S. Border Patrol encountered Michael Lopez-Loreto after a resident in the area reported a vehicle on their property. Agents responded and found the vehicle. They saw people from the desert run into the vehicle. The driver was later determined to be Lopez-Loreto.
The vehicle attempted to drive away but the area was blocked by agents. Lopez-Loreto sped away, nearly hitting agents outside of their vehicles. The other agents pursued Lopez-Loreto and tried to bring his vehicle to a stop with spike strips. After attempting to avoid the spike strips, he crashed into a water barrier and rolled his vehicle.
The two passengers suffered injuries in the crash and were taken to the nearby hospital. They were determined to be undocumented non-citizens.