Former Alabama National Guard soldier pleads guilty to smuggling migrants through South Texas

McALLEN, TEXAS (ValleyCentral) — A former Alabama National Guard soldier who smuggled migrants through South Texas pleaded guilty on Thursday.

Derrick Terelle Sankey, a specialist assigned to the 2025th Transportation Company, protected smugglers as they transported migrants from Hidalgo County and Starr County to “locations near Jim Wells County,” according to the indictment against him.

“Guilty, your honor,” Sankey said on Thursday morning, when he appeared before Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane at the federal courthouse in McAllen.

The Alabama National Guard deployed to McAllen during the pandemic to assist U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Sankey posted about the deployment on TikTok.

One video showed Sankey standing near the border wall. Another showed Sankey sitting in what appears to be an observation post.

“I think (sic) I little bug flew in my eye,” Sankey wrote, adding two crying emojis and the “#militarytiktok” hashtag.

On Sept. 8, 2021 — days after he posted about the bug — Homeland Security Investigations received a tip about Sankey smuggling drugs.

Agents set up a sting operation.

“SANKEY agreed to transport one (1) kilogram of narcotics from the Whataburger in Hidalgo, Texas to the DoubleTree Hotel in McAllen, Texas,” according to the criminal complaint against him.

Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, arranged for Sankey to pick up the drugs on Sept. 13.

“SANKEY arrived at the Whataburger in Hidalgo, Texas in a military uniform, driving a United States Border Patrol marked patrol vehicle,” according to the criminal complaint. “SANKEY approached an undercover agent and asked for the package he had agreed to pick up.”

The package contained about 1 kilogram of cocaine.

Homeland Security Investigations arrested Sankey, who said that someone had promised to pay him $1,000.

After his arrest, Sankey resigned from the Alabama National Guard and returned to Montgomery.

Sankey accepted a job with the state of Alabama and enrolled at Alabama State University.

“No better feeling than graduating college,” Sankey wrote in a November 2022 post on TikTok, which showed him wearing a cap and gown.

The drug case against Sankey, however, remained pending. If convicted, he faced 5 to 40 years in federal prison.

Sankey struck a deal with the government on Thursday.

Prosecutors agreed to drop the drug charge. Sankey, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to transport migrants without legal status in the United States.

During the conspiracy, which started in March 2021, Sankey was a “scout” for smugglers, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Guerra said Thursday morning. The smugglers recruited Sankey because of his experience with immigration enforcement in the Rio Grande Valley.

Sankey provided information about law enforcement activity to smugglers, which allowed them to avoid arrest, Guerra said. Sankey was paid based on the number of migrants they transported.

Guerra didn’t identify the smugglers or provide any other information about them. How many times Sankey assisted the smugglers, how many migrants they transported and how much money Sankey received also remains unclear.

Sankey pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport aliens within the United States, which is punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 12.