Sergio Rojas-Fregoso, one of five human smugglers connected to a panga boat that crashed in Del Mar’s shore back in May of this year, is due in court Monday for sentencing.
The smuggling operation he helped lead led to the death and injuries of multiple migrants.
Court records show that on May 5th, witnesses watched as the panga boat flipped over in the water in Del Mar, just north of Torrey Pines State Beach.
Encinitas Deputy Fire Chief Jorge Sanchez estimated 18 people were aboard the boat when it flipped over in the water.
Four people died and multiple others were hospitalized, but Rojas-Fregoso was able to escape.
The 31-year-old Mexican national and two other people were arrested later that night, while border patrol agents were conducting operations in Chula Vista.
They found him because he was driving a car that was spotted speeding away from the panga boat crash in Del Mar, earlier that day.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, during Rojas-Fregoso’s arrest, border patrol agents found eight migrants missing from the boat in the getaway car.
Rojas-Fregoso’s sentencing comes on the heels of another panga boat that capsized off the coast of Imperial Beach early this Saturday.
“Border had watched them cross the border when it capsized,” Chief John French with Imperial Beach Fire Department said.
U.S. Coast Guard said the boat was carrying at least nine people.
Four of them died, three of them found near the pier, the other just feet away from homes on Seacoast Drive.
Immigration records of the Department of Homeland Security revealed Rojas-Fregoso had previously been deported to Mexico on December 19, 2023.