Laredo, TX – A trucker caught smuggling more than 100 illegal migrants into the United States earlier this year has changed his original story and since pleaded guilty to transporting undocumented aliens.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 42-year-old Jonathan Kyle Price, of Covington, GA, recently admitted in federal court he agreed to smuggle 117 illegal aliens by tractor-trailer into the U.S. from Mexico.

On Friday, February 19, Price fled a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) checkpoint on Interstate Highway 35 approximately 29 miles north of Laredo.

Authorities pursued the big rig along I-35 and stopped it near mile marker 31.

Officers said Price was “verbally resistant” to commands but eventually complied with instructions to return to the checkpoint.

When CBP agents finally searched the vehicle they made the discovery which Price claimed was a surprise to him.

“Price stated he believed he was hauling narcotics to San Antonio, TX,” the arrest affidavit states. “Price claimed he had hauled one previous load of suspected narcotics to San Antonio.”

Further, court documents allege that in a post-arrest interview, Price admitted he agreed to transport the load approximately 160 miles from Laredo to San Antonio and was promised a whopping $25,000.

Price now faces up to ten years in prison.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 25, 2021.

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