Juries returned the indictments in San Antonio on Wednesday, charging Homero Zamorano Jr., 46, of Pasadena, Texas, and Christian Martinez, 28, of Palestine, Texas, with one count each of conspiracy to transporting undocumented migrants resulting in death; the transport of undocumented migrants resulting in death; conspiracy to transport undocumented migrants causing serious bodily harm and endangering lives; and the transportation of undocumented migrants resulting in serious bodily injury and endangering lives, according to a Justice Department press release.
If convicted, the men could face the death penalty for the most serious charges, the DOJ said.
Juan Claudio D’Luna-Mendez, 23, and Juan Francisco D’Luna-Bilbao, 48, both Mexican citizens, are also each charged with one count of possession of a firearm while in the illegally in the United States, according to the DOJ. If found guilty, the agency says they could face up to 10 years in prison.
CNN has reached out to each man’s attorneys for comment.
While surveying the home, police saw the two men at the residence and found a gun in the console of a truck D’Luna-Bilbao was driving.
Both men are Mexican nationals who resided illegally in the United States, according to the affidavit.
In addition to the 53 people who died, nearly a dozen others were hospitalized with heat-related conditions after being trapped inside a refrigerated tractor-trailer found abandoned on the outskirts of San Antonio.
Authorities were alerted to the scene on June 27 after an employee working in a nearby building heard calls for help. Upon arrival, authorities found the tractor-trailer full of people, some on the ground and in nearby brush, “many of them dead and some of them incapacitated,” according to the DOJ.
Firefighters said patients at the scene were hot to the touch and suffering from heat stroke and exhaustion. According to San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood, the truck apparently did not have working air conditioning and there was no sign of water inside.
According to the National Weather Service, temperatures on the day the truck was found ranged from 90 to 100 degrees.
