Driver Poses as Delivery Worker, Gets 10 Years for Smuggling 17 People

A man who was previously arrested in Texas for smuggling 17 illegal immigrants in a fake delivery truck has been sentenced to 10 years in prison as a result.

Massive Smuggling Attempt Busted

The event took place on August 30, 2024, where a Texas DPS trooper conducted a routine traffic stop on a Lowe's delivery truck with an expired tag. After having the driver, 29-year-old Cezanne Megel Patterson, step out, he can be seen wearing a Lowe's T-shirt to sell the lie.

The officer proceeded to ask Patterson if he was aware that the truck's tags were expired, to which he responded by saying he's just the driver and that a different company deals with maintenance and paperwork on the truck.

The trooper was not convinced, and decided to have a closer look. When she entered the nearly-empty truck, her attention was immediately drawn to loose wooden boards at the end that were obviously out of place.

After further investigation, the DPS trooper pulled away the loose paneling to reveal a person crammed in the small space, and then another.

After escorting everyone from the hiding spot in the truck, they ended up having a line of 17 people still sweating from the poor travel conditions.

Patterson was immediately arrested and charged with smuggling of persons with likelihood of serious bodily injury or death.

DPS South Texas Region Chief Arturo Dela Garza had this to say after the arrest:

Patterson's case is the perfect example of the dangerous lengths smugglers will go to when risking human lives for profit.

On July 24, 2025, Patterson was finally brought before Texas' 63rd Judicial District Court in Brackettville where he received his 10-year prison sentence.