Federal prosecutors say 13 people, all of them survivors of that sweltering tractor trailer immigrant smuggling effort, have been rounded up as material witnesses in the trial of truck driver James Bradley, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The U.S. Attorney's office says the 13 are 'in federal custody,' but experts say that doesn't mean they are in jail. Some remain in the hosptial, and others are on GPS monitoring and other non judicial detention so they can be available to prosecutors who are putting together a case against Bradley, who is facing the death penalty after ten illegal immigrants died as a result of making the trip from Laredo to San Antonio in the back of his 18 wheeler.
A bond hearing for Bradley which had been set for today has been cancelled, as Bradley has signed an affadavit agreeing to remain in federal custody. He has also waived his right to a preliminary hearing, which had also been set for today.
Prominent local attorney and former federal prosecutor Michael McCrum, who was the special counsel in the 2014 abuse of office prosecution of former Gov. Rick Perry, has been named attorney for the 13 individuals.
"It is my understanding they were all on the truck," McCrum told News Radio 1200 WOAI in an e-mail. "At this point, without having spoken to them, I cannot answer whether or not they will be testifying. Of course, since the government has taken the position that they are material witnesses, the government wants them to testify."
Experts tell 1200 WOAI news that federal prosecutors can offer visas and the right to remain in the USA as incentives for the witnesses to testify against Bradley.
Federal officials are also attempting to arrest Bradley's alleged associates in the smuggling effort, including the Zetas-associated individuals who packed the immigrants into the truck, and the individuals who gathered in the parking lot of the Walmart and picked up as many as sixty people from the truck before police arrived.