Sullivan City man gets decade in prison for fatal smuggling crash

Raul Botello

A 25-year-old Sullivan City man has been sentenced to prison for his role in the death of a person he was smuggling before rolling over “multiple times” during a high speed chase with police, according to the Hidalgo County District Attorney Toribio “Terry” Palacios.

Raul Botello was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the death of Odilio Diaz Suchite following his guilty plea Monday morning.

The incident occurred around 9:53 a.m. on Jan. 4, 2023, after a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper attempted to conduct a traffic stop on Botello who was driving a tan 2000 Ford F-150 in the area of FM 2221 and Doffing Road.

However, Botello didn’t stop.

Instead, Botello began to attempt to evade the trooper by driving at unsafe speeds on 7 Mile Line Road, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The trooper later learned that Botello was attempting to smuggle 11 people unlawfully present in the United States, who later told him that Botello instructed them to lay down in the cargo area of the vehicle in order to avoid detection, according to the affidavit.

Botello eventually “lost control of the vehicle and caused the vehicle to roll on its side multiple times,” the affidavit said.

It was reported that seven people in the cargo area were ejected from the vehicle during the crash, but Diaz “was crushed by the vehicle and died at the scene.”

Those that sustained injuries and Botello had been transported to local hospitals by EMS for medical attention.

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