Crime & Safety
Smuggler Gets 4 Years For Border Patrol Chase Crash That Killed Migrant
Court documents state he was to be paid $2,000 for the endeavor and had previously transported people who had entered the U.S. illegally.
February 3, 2023
A man who crashed a car while fleeing from Border Patrol agents near the Thousand Trails campground, killing one of his migrant passengers, was sentenced Friday to more than four years in federal prison.
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Kevin Antonio Quevedo-Moncada, 23, of Lake Forest crashed into a tree after speeding away from Border Patrol agents just before 6 p.m., Dec. 25, 2021.
According to prosecutors, the defendant picked up three people who entered the U.S. illegally near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
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After Border Patrol agents attempted to stop his car near the Thousand Trails campground, Quevedo-Moncada drove off “rapidly and erratically” through the campground and struck a Border Patrol agent’s vehicle.
Prosecutors allege he was driving up to 93 miles per hour during the ensuing pursuit.
Quevedo-Moncada lost control of the car and crashed down an embankment and into a tree off Otay Lakes Road.
One of his passengers, 52-year-old Gaudencio Gerardo Luna-Vasquez, died at the scene, while two others were hospitalized with critical injuries.
After the crash, Quevedo-Moncada climbed out of the car through the front windshield and fled, but was arrested, prosecutors say.
Court documents state he was to be paid $2,000 for the endeavor and had previously transported people who had entered the U.S. illegally.
A sentencing memorandum from his defense attorney stated Quevedo- Moncada began taking part in smuggling due to his family’s dire financial situation. He told investigators that upon encountering a Border Patrol vehicle, one of the passengers told him to “Go, go, go!” and while in a panic, he sped off.
He pleaded guilty last year to federal charges stemming from the fatal wreck and was sentenced Friday to 51 months in custody.
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