Driver smuggling 11 illegal immigrants streams 105-mph chase — grandma, 7-year-old and 2 others killed, gets life
U.S. Department of Justice. A 21-year-old Louisiana man has been sentenced to life in federal prison for a 2023 human-smuggling run that ended in a high-speed crash killing four people in West Texas.
Rassian Nateray Comer was sentenced Sept. 25 after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy and transportation charges tied to the deaths, along with a stolen-firearm offense.
According to federal prosecutors, Comer was transporting 11 people who were unlawfully present in the U.S. when he fled from a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper on March 13, 2023.
Authorities said he drove at speeds above 100 mph, entered the wrong side of Interstate 10, and later ran a red light in Ozona before crashing into a pickup truck.
The collision killed a grandmother and her 7-year-old granddaughter, as well as two passengers in Comer’s vehicle. Nine others suffered serious injuries.
Prosecutors said Comer streamed part of the pursuit on Facebook Live, showing police lights behind him and a speedometer reading 105 mph.
He later admitted the trip was his fourth smuggling run for an organization operated by a relative and that he had coordinated pickup locations through WhatsApp.
Investigators also found a 9mm handgun under the brake pedal of his vehicle, which Comer admitted possessing while believing it was stolen.
Comer pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport people unlawfully present in the U.S. resulting in death, 11 counts of transportation resulting in death, and one count of possessing a stolen firearm.
A federal judge imposed life sentences on the smuggling-related counts, along with a concurrent 120-month sentence on the firearm charge.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from Texas state and local law enforcement agencies.
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Original Article: Driver sentenced to life in prison after smuggling crash that killed four
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