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| Police forensics officers work on a crime scene where eight people were found dead in San Antonio |
A truck driver on Monday was charged by federal officials with smuggling dozens of illegal immigrants in his tractor-trailer in sweltering heat that led to the deaths of 10 people.
James Matthew Bradley Jr., 60, was charged with a single count of illegally transporting dozens of unauthorised immigrants. He was arrested on Sunday after authorities found eight men dead in the back of his truck parked outside a Walmart store in San Antonio.
Two more people died later at hospitals and dozens of others were treated for heat stroke and dehydration, officials said.
Bradley was charged under a law that makes it illegal to transport an immigrant while knowing the person is in the country illegally, according to a complaint filed in federal court in San Antonio, about 240km north of the US-Mexico border. If convicted, Bradley could face the death penalty or life in prison.
Alfredo Villarreal, assistant federal public defender, is one of two lawyers that will represent Bradley, according to the court clerk. Villarreal could not be reached immediately for comment.
In addition to those who died, about 30 to 40 others were rescued from the truck, which lacked air conditioning and drinking water, the complaint said.
Outside temperatures topped 37.8 Celsius on Sunday. San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said the people in the truck ranged from school-age children to adults in their 30s.
Earlier the US Attorneyโs Office listed the defendantโs middle name as Mathew.
