West Texas man pleads guilty in case involving plane crash that injured 5 undocumented noncitizens
Five undocumented noncitizens were injured on Dec. 30, 2021, when an aircraft that Tobias Penner Peters was piloted crashed near the Presidio (Texas) Airport.
ALPINE, Texas — Tobias Penner Peters pleaded guilty Feb. 2 to transporting undocumented noncitizens causing serious bodily injury.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) El Paso special agents assigned to Presidio are investigating the case with help from the U.S. Border Patrol and the Presidio County Sheriff’s Department.
Peters, 46, piloted an aircraft carrying five undocumented noncitizens on Dec. 30, 2021, and crashed shortly after taking off from the Presidio Airport, according to court documents.
U.S. Border Patrol agents responded to the crash, finding the five injured migrants. Peters had already fled scene.
Peters turned himself in at the Presidio Port of Entry three months later. One of the undocumented noncitizens injured in the crash suffered a back injury, was airlifted to an El Paso hospital, and remains in a wheelchair.
Peters pleaded guilty to transportation of illegal noncitizens causing serious bodily injury. He is set to be sentenced on April 25 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine his sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Greenbaum is prosecuting the case.
For more news and information on HSI El Paso’s efforts to combat human smuggling in West Texas and the State of New Mexico, follow us on Twitter @HSIElPaso.
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.
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