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Truck Driver Sentenced to Life in Prison
By JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press Writer

Thursday, January 18, 2007



(01-1 13:32 PST HOUSTON, (AP) --


A truck driver was spared the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison Thursday for his role in the nation's deadliest human smuggling attempt — a journey that ended in the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants crammed in a sweltering tractor-trailer.


Tyrone Williams, 36, was convicted last month on 58 counts of conspiracy, harboring and transporting immigrants.


More than 70 immigrants were locked for hours inside his trailer during the 2003 trip from South Texas to Houston. Nineteen died from dehydration, overheating and suffocation. Williams abandoned the container near Victoria, about 100 miles southwest of Houston.


Williams looked down as the decision was read and gave no visible reaction. His attorney wept and wiped his eyes with a tissue.


A jury deliberated for 5 1/2 days before sentencing Williams. The sentence comes with no possibility for parole.


Defense attorneys said Williams never intended for the immigrants to die and questioned why he was the only defendant in the case facing the death penalty. But prosecutors said Williams deserved to die because he knew the immigrants were dying and did not help them.


Williams, a Jamaican citizen who lived in Schenectady, N.Y., is one of 14 people charged in the case.

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