A Jamaican man has been sentenced to more than five years in prison after federal prosecutors allege he orchestrated 14 human smuggling trips to get undocumented immigrants into Texas.
Bryan Adamson, 52, was sentenced to 70 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez, according to a statement from Justin Simmons, United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas.
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Adamson was a member of a 10-person organization that conspired to smuggle undocumented immigrants into the nation, investigators claimed. According to federal officials, the smuggling organization transported migrants from Laredo to San Antonio in tractor-trailers.
According to federal officials, Adamson participated in and assisted with the coordination of at least 14 human smuggling operations between May 6, 2021, and April 28, 2022. According to federal officials, he recruited drivers, hired scouts, paid drivers and co-conspirators, and facilitated “the further transport of aliens arriving in Laredo from Mexico.”
Adamson worked with an organization that smuggled migrants from Mexico to Laredo and kept them in stash homes before loading them into tractor-trailers. According to authorities, the vehicles routinely transported 30 to 100 people per trailer. Homeland Security Investigations agents were able to link the smuggling organization to at least 19 people smuggling incidents, federal authorities said.
Authorities added that numerous of the excursions created unsafe conditions for the occupants inside the trailer. Officials did not report any fatalities during the trips, as they did in 2022, when another smuggling ring operating in a similar manner—transporting migrants between Laredo and San Antonio in a tractor-trailer—killed 53 migrants when they were left locked inside the trailer on the side of a San Antonio highway.
On May 6, 2021, San Antonio police got 911 calls reporting a large truck moving through the area with individuals reaching their hands out of a little door in the back of the trailer. According to federal authorities, the individuals inside pulled away the area around the entrance in an attempt to escape. Authorities apprehended 41 undocumented immigrants, including one who was brought to a nearby hospital for dehydration. Two of the passengers were minors who did not travel with an adult.
According to federal officials, one of the migrants informed them he was near the trailer doors and noticed numerous people who appeared to be having difficulty breathing. Others informed officials they worried for their lives because there were over 100 individuals inside the trailer, causing temperatures to rise. Authorities reported that several of the immigrants appeared disoriented and asked for water.
Court documents show Adamson was arrested on June 23, 2022. Prior to his detention, he was charged with one count of transporting illegal aliens on June 15, 2022. Two months later, a superseding indictment included a second count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and endangering a person’s life.
Adamson pleaded guilty to both counts in May. In addition to the jail sentence, Rodriguez ordered Adamson to serve three years of supervised release and to forfeit $164,250, two weapons, ammo, and accessories as part of the plea, according to records.
Seven of Adamson’s co-defendants have been sentenced, according to the US Attorney’s Office: Fredi Zagala-Servin and Sedrick Zelitis Smith received 97 and 84 months in prison, respectively; Mark Algie Holliday, Norman Lee Walker Jr., Ronnie Joe Branch, and Eliseo Loredo each received 30-month prison terms; and Rodney Edward Shavers, who has been in custody since December 31, 2022, was sentenced to time served on February 26.
Debbie Marie Gonzales, a co-defendant, pled guilty in May and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 17, while Francisco Arredondo-Colmenero is awaiting additional proceedings after being arrested in Mexico, according to police.
“This sentencing underscores the life-threatening risks posed by transnational human smuggling networks that prioritize profit over people,” Craig Larrabee, Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio special agent in charge, said in a written statement. “The defendant’s actions not only violated federal law but posed a risk to human life. We will continue working with our international and domestic partners to protect our communities and uphold the rule of law.”
