AUSTIN, Texas — Two smugglers convicted of federal charges in connection with the deaths of 53 migrants found in the back of a sweltering tractor-trailer in Texas in 2022 will spend the rest of their lives in prison after being sentenced Friday on the third anniversary of the tragedy.

Felipe Orduna-Torres and Armando Gonzales-Ortega were the first of several defendants to be sentenced for what remains the nation’s deadliest human smuggling attempt across the U.S.-Mexico border.

A federal jury convicted the men in March of being part of a human smuggling conspiracy that resulted in death and injury. They were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia at a hearing in San Antonio.

Prosecutors described Orduna-Torres, 30, as the leader of the smuggling operation inside the U.S. and he was sentenced to life in prison. Gonzales-Ortega, 55, was his top assistant and was sentenced to 83 years. The federal prison system has no parole. “These criminals will spend the rest of their lives in prison U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said.

— The Associated Press

— The Associated Press