Man sentenced for deadly California human smuggling attempt

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A human smuggler been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for his role in a smuggling attempt that left two people dead near the California border with Mexico.

Jorge Luis Martinez-Hernandez of Mexico was sentenced Monday in San Diego. He pleaded guilty in April to smuggling resulting in death and smuggling for financial gain.

The charges are connected to a 2017 incident where two people were hit by a car and killed as they sprinted from a van that Martinez-Hernandez was driving.

The van was carrying eight people that Martinez-Hernandez had led from Tijuana, Mexico into San Diego County.

Martinez-Hernandez told investigators that he was going to be paid $1,000 for each person he guided into the U.S.