ROCKSPRINGS, Texas – A man has been sentenced to 99 years in prison in connection with a human smuggling case that left one person dead in 2023, according to a news release from District Attorney Tonya Spaeth Ahlschwede.
Jhan Carlos Fernandez, 24, of New York, was sentenced by an Edwards County jury on Thursday, May 22, following two and a half days of testimony.
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Fernandez was found guilty of human smuggling causing a death, with a maximum fine assessed at $10,000. He will serve a minimum of 30 years before becoming eligible for parole, the release said.
Fernandez was also found guilty of four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the release said, and was sentenced to 20 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division — the maximum sentence available — and a $10,000 fine for each count.
According to the release, on the night of Feb. 27, 2023, Fernandez picked up five migrants in Maverick County. Around 1 a.m. on Feb. 28, he was seen by an Edwards County deputy sheriff driving into the City of Rocksprings at 71 mph — 16 miles over the speed limit.
Before law enforcement could initiate a traffic stop, the release said Fernandez accelerated and failed to turn on U.S. Highway 377, flipping the car into the lot of Zapata’s Garage and causing several people to be ejected from the vehicle.
Yensy Galvez Hernandez, of Honduras, died at the scene. The other crash victims survived, and one survivor testified that Fernandez directed him to ride in the vehicle’s trunk, the release said.
“During sentencing, the evidence showed Fernandez had a significant criminal record from New York,” the release said. “The State asked the jury for the maximum sentence on all charges to send the message that human smuggling shouldn’t happen here, or anywhere.”
Ahlschwede credited the quick actions of first responders for saving the other crash victims.
“We learned during testimony that, like in so many of these kinds of cases, money was the motivating factor for the defendant. ... We will continue to marshal all our resources to prosecute human smugglers to the maximum extent permitted by law,” Ahlschwede said in the release.
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