MCALLEN, TEXAS (AP) -- A Mexican man has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for conspiring to harbor more than 100 illegal immigrants on a South Texas property.
A Justice Department statement says Marcial Salas Gardunio was sentenced to eight years plus a month in prison Monday as one of two people operating three stash houses on the property.
In May, a 911 call from someone locked in one of the Edinburg homes alerted authorities. Immigrants reported that Solis, who's now 24, greeted them upon their arrival at the houses saying "Welcome to hell."
Salas had told investigators that the other man charged, who is scheduled for sentencing Tuesday, paid him $500 per week to smuggle immigrants. They both pleaded guilty days after their indictment.
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