SIERRA VISTA — A preliminary hearing for the accused driver of a vehicle transporting illegal immigrants that was involved in a fatal crash Sunday near Sierra Vista is scheduled to have a hearing in federal court today.
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Francisco Javier Morquecho-Valdez, 19, of Mexico, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and charged with a count of transporting illegal immigrants for profit/resulting in death, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Arizona Public Affairs Office.
About 7:45 a.m. Sunday, a 2001 Dodge extended cab pickup apparently driven by Morquecho-Valdez crashed while heading westbound on Highway 90 near High Knoll Road, about eight miles east of Sierra Vista.
All of the vehicle’s 15 occupants were apparently Mexican nationals who were in the United States illegally.
Most of the passengers were in the truck’s bed and covered by a tarp.
More people were stacked inside the cab, where the rear seat had been removed.
The pickup had been reported stolen out of Phoenix on April 7.
The pickup was not fleeing a traffic stop or any other apparent pursuit, but an eyewitness told Arizona Department of Public Safety officers the pickup was speeding.
Two men were killed, ages 18 and 47, and though their identities have been confirmed, the process of notification of next of kin is still under way and their names are not yet being released, a spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in Douglas said Tuesday.
Three of the four men flown to University Medical Center in Tucson have been treated and released.
With the assistance of the Consulate in Douglas, the men were taken back to a shelter in Agua Prieta, Mexico, the spokesman for the Consulate said.
The names of those men are Diego Arenas Huinatl, Alfredo Maldonado Rodriguez and Pedro Tecuapacho.
The fourth man, Edwardo Arngel Martinez, remains at UMC and was in fair condition on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for UMC said.
Two others were treated and released from Bisbee’s Copper Queen Community Hospital with less serious injuries.
Morquecho-Valdez was kept at the Cochise County Jail on a courtesy hold for federal police until ICE agents retrieved him about 10:30 a.m. Monday.
After the crash, Morquecho-Valdez fled. He was apprehended a short time later by the U.S. Border Patrol, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Arizona press release.
Some of the illegal immigrants in the group told U.S. officials they crossed into the United States earlier that day near Naco, Ariz., walked north through the desert and were picked up by Morquecho-Valdez in the pickup, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Another witness told authorities he was to pay $2,500 as a smuggling fee and his final destination was New York.
The criminal complaint alleges Morquecho-Valdez admitted he was the truck’s driver when it crashed, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A conviction for transporting illegal immigrants for profit resulting in death carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.
Sunday’s incident was the second fatal rollover crash in Southeastern Arizona in a week.
On April 7, a rollover near Benson left a woman dead and others hospitalized.
An illegal immigrant also is charged in that case.
The number of Francisco Javier Morquecho-Valdez’s case in federal court is 08-6124M.
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