Boat captain pleads guilty in migrant smuggling deaths off California coast, feds say

When his boat carrying 32 migrants seeking new lives in the United States ran aground off San Diego, Antonio Hurtado jumped off and made his way ashore, prosecutors said.

Three migrants drowned near the Point Loma tidepools despite efforts by civilians and National Park Service personnel to save them May 2, the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California said in a news release.

On Wednesday, the 40-year-old Hurtado pleaded guilty to charges connected to the maritime disaster, which could bring him life in prison, prosecutors said.

His 32 passengers had paid $15,000 to $18,000 each to be smuggled from Mexico into the United States by boat, the release said.

But Hurtado used drugs and passed out, leaving the boat circling at sea for an hour before his passengers could rouse him, prosecutors said. Then the boat’s engine cut out and heavy waves pushed it ashore about 50 yards from the Point Loma tidepools.

Hurtado abandoned ship, and waves broke the boat apart and plunged the 32 people aboard, who had been hiding below decks on his orders, into the chilly water, prosecutors said.

Maricela Hernandez-Sanchez, Victor Perez-Degollado, and Maria Eugenia Chavez-Segovia, all of Mexico, died in the maritime disaster.

“This was a horrific tragedy that never should have happened,” said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “Because of the incomprehensible and stunning recklessness of the defendant on that terrible day, three people died and many others had to be rescued from rough seas.”

Calling it a “shocking and callous turn of events,” Grossman noted that “if not for the heroism of stunned witnesses who swung into action, and that of first responders, others would have died.”

Hurtado is scheduled to be sentenced July 1.

This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 3:13 PM with the headline "Boat captain pleads guilty in migrant smuggling deaths off California coast, feds say."