James Bradley, who was allegedly driving the truck filled with illegal immigrants that led to ten deaths in San Antonio claimed in a statement to police that he had no idea that there were people inside his trailer until he stopped at the Walmart on the southwest side early Sunday to use the restroom.
And John Esparza, who heads the Texas Trucking Association says that is not out of the question.
"Was he aware that he had forty people in the back of his trailer? That is yet to be determined," Esparza said. "If he says he didn't know, I guess we'll find out soon enough."
Esparza says he has heard numerous stories of truckers only later finding out that their trailers had been 'infiltrated' to house human or illegal drug cargos.
He says with the type of trailer Bradley was hauling it is possible that he could not have heard the sounds of people banging on the walls of the trailer.
"From the photos that I could see, I could see it was a refrigerated unit on the front of that trailer, at least from the photos that I saw."
He says with the noise of the refrigeration equipment, plus the normal highway noise, it is conceivably possible that a trucker in an insulated cab may not have heard the noise from the trailer.
Bradley is facing the possibility of the death penalty for transporting illegal immigrants, resulting in the death of ten people.
Bradley said in a statement to police, he had stopped at a truck stop near Laredo to have the truck detailed. When he exited the cab at the Walmart he first heard the banging and shaking in the trailer, and when he opened the door, he was 'surprised when he was run over by "Spanish" people and knocked to the ground.'
Less credible is Bradley's claim of his itinerary. He told federal officials he left Iowa, where the trucking company that owns the trailer is located, to deliver the trailer to a buyer in Brownsville. But he first stopped at Laredo, and then returned to San Antonio, on his way to Brownsville.
39 illegal immigrants were found in the truck. Eight were dead, two others died later at hospitals, and another 18 remain hosptialized.