Indictment alleges transportation of illegal aliens

Thursday, June 14, 2001 | 10:44 a.m.

A grand jury indictment released Wednesday alleges that the driver in a fatal accident on U.S. 95 was transporting three men classified as illegal aliens.

Julio Lopez-Trejo, 23, is being held by the Immigration and Naturalization Service and is facing deportation proceedings.

In May, he allegedly drove three illegal aliens from Las Vegas to Oregon to obtain drivers' licenses. On the way back on May 16 the sport utility vehicle that Trejo was driving rolled and crashed near Indian Springs, said Sharon Lever, an assistant U.S. attorney.

"The car was going over 100 mph and when it rolled. Mr. Edgar Eduardo Guzman was ejected from the vehicle and was killed," Lever said.

Another man, Victor Cervantes, was seriously injured in the accident, with the third passenger in the car, Julian Ibarra-Alcantar, suffering only minor injuries.

Lever said that it is easier for aliens to get drivers' licenses in Oregon than in Nevada. In Oregon, birth certificates and foreign passports are accepted as identification, and applicants do not have to prove they are U.S. residents to get a license.

The indictment charges Lopez-Trejo with three counts of transporting illegal aliens, one resulting in death.