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Texas teen accused of ordering Lyft ride to smuggle illegal immigrants using mom's credit card
Image source: Sullivan City Police Department

Texas teen accused of ordering Lyft ride to smuggle illegal immigrants using mom's credit card

The 17-year-old was arrested on a third-degree felony charge

A teenager from Mission, Texas, landed himself in hot water earlier this month, when he decided to become a human smuggler using his mother's credit card and his sister's Lyft app.

What are the details?

Jose Vigil, 17, was allegedly offered $250 per person to sneak a pair of illegal immigrants past Border Patrol and local law enforcement, The Daily Caller reported. But without a car to transport them on his own, the teen used other resources.

According to the local Progress Times, Vigil borrowed his mom's credit card and ordered a ride from Lyft using his sister's phone. The unassuming Lyft driver picked up the teen, and drove to a house to pick up his "cousins" — who weren't his cousins at all, but illegal immigrants from Guatemala who were soaking wet from the waist down.

But the Lyft driver's vehicle didn't have a front license plate, which drew the attention of law enforcement. Sullivan City police Officer Joshua Rodriguez pulled the car over, looked inside, and said to the driver, "Let me ask you a question. Who are the guys in the back?"

The driver swore up and down he had no idea who they were, that he himself was just a 22-year-old who works at a pizzeria and drives for Lyft to make extra cash. While police were skeptical at first, Vigil confessed to coordinating everything, and according to the police report, "advised that the Lyft driver had nothing to do with the smuggling."

Police did not name the driver because he was not charged with a crime, but they did give him a scolding for not paying better attention. "OK, first of all, didn't it seem kind of off to you that they're wet from the clothes?" Rodriguez asked the driver. "That they're muddy from the shoes? Anything like that? My suggestion to you, man, is if you're going to be doing this Lyft, at least be mindful of who you're going to pick up."

Anything else?

Vigil was arrested on April 5, and charged with third-degree felony human smuggling. He was released April 7 on $10,000 bond.

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