A man from Galveston, Texas, has pleaded guilty to smuggling two undocumented immigrants inside a damaged coffin that had been haphazardly draped with the American flag.
Zachary Taylor Blood, 33, told Border Patrol officials at a checkpoint near Falfurrias on Oct. 26, 2021, that there was a “dead guy, Navy guy†inside the coffin he was transporting in the back of his van.
Two men from Mexico were found concealed inside the coffin. They confessed to “paying a smuggler to get them to San Antonio,†the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “They claimed that after crossing the river into the United States, they were taken to a parking lot where Blood was waiting for them. He had them get into the coffin and began driving north.â€
Blood pleaded guilty to one count of human smuggling. He faces five years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine. He’ll be sentenced on May 11.
