Texas man pleads guilty after plane crash involving undocumented citizens

ALPINE, Texas (KOSA) - A Seminole man plead guilty on Thursday to transporting undocumented noncitizens and causing serious bodily injury.

According to court documents, Tobias Penner Peters, 46, piloted an aircraft carrying five undocumented noncitizens on Dec. 30, 2021, and crashed shortly after taking off from the Presidio Airport.

U.S. Border Patrol agents responded to the crash, finding the five injured undocumented individuals. However by the time agents got there, Peters had already fled the crash site on his way to Mexico. He turned himself in at the Presidio Port of Entry three months later.

One of the undocumented individuals injured in the crash suffered a back injury, was life-flighted to an El Paso hospital, and remains in a wheelchair today. Peters pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of illegal aliens causing serious bodily injury.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 25, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

READ THE ORIGINAL STORY BY CBS7 HERE.

Copyright 2023 KOSA. All rights reserved.