A federal judge sentenced a San Diego County man to 71 months in prison for smuggling two illegal immigrants over the border and causing a crash that left them dead, prosecutors reported July 2.
Prosecutors say Sergio Josue Palomera of Chula Vista picked up a man and a woman on Oct. 22, 2024, in his car at the U.S.-Mexico border in Otay Mesa, Calif., about 20 miles southeast of downtown San Diego.
Border Patrol agents using surveillance witnessed the people getting into the car, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego.
One of the agents responded to the location and reported Palomera’s car traveling west on State Route 905. The agent activated his lights and sirens and tried to pull the car over, according to officials….