A McAllen man will spend 30 years in federal prison. He ran a smuggling ring that used teen drivers. Three people died in one crash. One of them was the teen behind the wheel.

Jose Manuel Silva-Lopez is 27. He pleaded guilty on Dec. 18, 2025, to a smuggling conspiracy. That means he admitted he worked with others to move people who had just crossed the border.

U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton gave him 360 months. That is 30 years. He must also do three years of supervised release. That means a federal officer keeps watch on him after prison. The judge made him pay $10,000 in court fees too.

The case shows how smuggling rings in the Valley look for kids. Silva-Lopez found his drivers on social media. Some were only 14 years old. He told them to run from the cops. Two of those runs ended with the car on fire.

Border Patrol says the ring started in June 2023. It worked all over the Rio Grande Valley. Silva-Lopez tracked where his drivers were. He sent them to pickup spots by the river. The migrants had just crossed the Rio Grande. The drivers then took them to stash houses in the Valley.

Silva-Lopez ran the ring from a distance. He watched where each driver was. He told them where to go and when to move. He told them which stash houses to use.

Agents say the chases got bad fast. Two load cars fled at high speed and caught fire. A third chase hit over 120 miles per hour.

The worst day came on Jan. 17, 2024. Silva-Lopez set up another run. His driver was still a kid. Agents saw the driver pick up two people by the river. They tried to stop the car. The driver took off.

A few minutes later, agents found a wreck close by. The car had lost control on a sharp turn. It hit a parked trailer. The driver and both riders died from their injuries. The driver had been on the phone with Silva-Lopez during the run.

The court did not name the three who died. The court did say the driver was a minor. That means he was under 18.

At the sentencing, the court heard that Silva-Lopez showed no regret. He kept hiring teen drivers after the crash. He kept telling them to flee. The court said he put people in danger of death or bad injury by doing it.

Judge Tipton spoke about how risky these chases are. He said Silva-Lopez had a role in the three deaths. Then he handed down the 30 years.

Agents counted at least 21 smuggling runs by the ring. They ran from June 2023 through September 2024. That is a 15 month stretch. So far, 20 drivers in the case have been charged and sentenced. Their names were not released.

This case is not the only one like it. El Tejano wrote last month about a Starr County teen. Agents charged him with smuggling five migrants near a Border Patrol station. That case is a separate one from this ring. You can read it here: https://www.eltejanorgv.com/starr-county-teen-charged-with-smuggling-five-migrants-near-border-station/

The ring leaned on young drivers pulled off social media. A chase would start. The man who set up the run was somewhere else the whole time.

The three deaths and the teen drivers are what the judge pointed to at the hearing.

Silva-Lopez is still in jail. He will move to a federal prison soon. The Bureau of Prisons will pick which one.

Border Patrol worked the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Devin V. Walker took it to court.