The Devils Highway - Luis Alberto Urrea [76]
Mendez wrote his sad letter, but it could not stand against Charlton’s language and organization.
By way of this letter, I ask forgiveness and pardon for what happened in the Arizona desert, because I really am sorry from the bottom of my heart for what happened and it honestly wasn’t my intention to lead those people to their deaths. Rather, my intention was to help them cross the border. But we never imagined the tragedy would happen. I want you to know that since my childhood my parents have always been of very low economical resources. My parents had to make great efforts just to feed us each day. I was forced to leave school because they didn’t have enough economic means to send all four of us children to school. So I decided to leave my family and look for work, and make some good money to help my family make ends meet and buy them a house, since they don’t own their own home. I worked legitimately at a factory making roof tiles in Nogales, Sonora. The wages were truly very low, and that was my reason for getting involved in the smuggling business. I met Daniel at the factory where I was working and he asked me if I’d work for him by crossing over illegals and he promised me good wages. I didn’t want to, but in the end I decided to, since it didn’t include killing or robbing anybody. That was why I began to work for him and there were always three of us guides and I swear, nothing like this tragedy had ever happened to us before. It was never our intention to abandon them, but rather to help them, because when three people from the group decided not to continue and turn themselves in, one of the guides stayed with them, and if the rest would have decided not to continue we would have all turned ourselves in. But they decided to keep walking in order to make it to our destination and I never forced them to keep going. So we kept on walking, but within a few hours we all ran out of water. We never imagined the temperatures would be so high. So then the illegals asked me and my companion to go for water and they gave us ninety dollars to buy the water, because we didn’t have any money on us. But it was not our intention to abandon them, but rather to help them. But since the temperatures were so high, my companion died and I was left very weak and I couldn’t continue on to bring help and if immigration hadn’t found me in time I too would have died, and in my state I wasn’t aware of what had happened to the other people. It was in the hospital that they informed me that many people had died. I felt very sad and I honestly am very sorry for the family members and victims and I am so sorry because it wasn’t my intention to lead them to their death. I ask forgiveness and pardon from the judge and the state for what happened. I ask from the bottom of my heart not to judge me so unfairly, because what happened was an accident and not intentional. I promise not to bring illegals across anymore and I am truly repentant, and ask the judge’s pardon and forgiveness.
Thank you,
Jesús Lopez Ramos
“The defendant’s reckless conduct continued throughout this crossing attempt. ( … ) [The surviving victims] repeatedly asked the defendant how much further they would be required to walk. The defendant repeatedly advised them that they were within one to two hours of their destination, and urged them to continue. By his own admission, the defendant had previously guided groups of aliens through the same area of the desert for profit. Consequently, it must have become apparent to the defendant that the path was unfamiliar or that he had taken the group in a different direction than what he had planned. Yet, he never confessed to the members of the group that they were lost.
“The defendant maintains that any member of the group could have turned around and returned to Mexico at any point. However, by withholding the truth from the group