A 27-year-old McAllen man was sentenced after pleading guilty to running a smuggling ring in the Rio Grande Valley that left three people dead, including a teenage driver.

Jose Manuel Silva-Lopez was sentenced on Thursday to 30 years in federal prison for running the smuggling operation from June 2023 through September 2024. Law enforcement determined he coordinated at least 21 separate smuggling events during that time, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Texas.

Prosecutors said Silva-Lopez used social media to recruit drivers, including teenagers as young as 14. He tracked their locations, directed them to pick-up points along the Rio Grande Valley, and had them transport people to stash houses across the Valley.

Silva-Lopez also instructed drivers to flee from law enforcement during smuggling runs. On two occasions, vehicles fled at high speeds and caught fire. A third pursuit reached speeds of more than 120 miles per hour.

On Jan. 17, 2024, Silva-Lopez coordinated a smuggling run with a teenage driver, according to the release. Authorities tried to stop the vehicle after watching the driver pick up two people from the river, but the driver fled.

Minutes later, officers discovered the vehicle had lost control on a sharp turn and hit a parked trailer. The driver and two passengers died from their injuries. 

“During the event, the driver had been on the phone with Silva-Lopez,” the news release stated. “Law enforcement determined Silva-Lopez had coordinated at least 21 separate alien smuggling events from June 2023 through September 2024. To date, a total of 20 drivers have been prosecuted and sentenced.”

At sentencing, the court heard that Silva-Lopez showed no remorse after the crash, and continued recruiting teenage drivers and instructing them to flee from law enforcement.

Silva-Lopez remains in custody while awaiting transfer to a federal prison facility.