A San Antonio man has admitted lying under oath. It came after a stop at a Laredo checkpoint. Agents found 19 migrants hidden in the trailer he pulled.
Jose Alfredo Zapata, 44, pleaded guilty to perjury. That means lying under oath. The U.S. Attorney's Office for South Texas said so on Oct. 6. The office says Zapata lied to agents. It says he also lied to judges. He did it during his earlier smuggling case.
It started at the checkpoint. The office says Zapata drove a blue Ford Expedition to a Border Patrol checkpoint in Laredo on Sept. 3, 2022. He was pulling a trailer. He told agents he was another man. He said he was a U.S. citizen. He said he was going home to San Antonio.
A dog gave a signal at the trailer. Agents found 19 migrants. They were hidden in a space near the top. The office says Zapata admitted he was smuggling them. He said he would get $2,000 to take the trailer to San Antonio. Two of the migrants said they paid a smuggling group to get them into the country.
The lies went on. From Sept. 6, 2022, to Jan. 18, 2023, Zapata kept using the other man's name. He did it in court and with agents. The office says he gave that man's birth date, home address and license number. He gave that man's Social Security number too.
Court records say Zapata also swore he was that man in court. The real man told investigators he was never the defendant. He said he never gave Zapata permission to use his details.
Zapata pleaded guilty to one count of perjury. Court records say there was a plea deal. Prosecutors will ask to drop three other counts at sentencing. Two are more perjury counts. One is aggravated identity theft.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Diana Song Quiroga took the plea. Sentencing is set for Dec. 29, 2026. Zapata faces up to five years in prison. He could be fined up to $250,000. A judge will set the sentence.
The office says Zapata is in custody. He will stay there until sentencing. The FBI office in Laredo ran the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Franklyn is handling the case.
