A Cameron County judge on Friday sentenced George Alvarez to 60 years in prison in connection with a deadly crash in Brownsville.

Alvarez was convicted in the deadly May 7, 2023, crash outside the Ozanam Center shelter in Brownsville that killed eight migrants from Venezuela, and injured 10 others.

“It was the deadliest intoxication crash in Brownsville history,” Cameron County Assistant District Attorney Art Teniente said.

Prosecutors said Alvarez was on drugs at the time of the crash. Alvarez was found guilty on Friday on eight counts of intoxication manslaughter after previously pleading guilty to charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. 

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“The biggest challenge here in this case was proving that the defendant was intoxicated at the time of the crash, and that the intoxication caused the crash,” Teniente said.

Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz called the trial a difficult, high profile case.

Prosecutors called 11 witnesses to the stand. Among them were Raul Ramos and Gabriel Gallardo, two of the 10 people who survived the crash.

The Venezuelans say they came to America for a better life.

“We were all young,” Ramos said. “He also left his young children without a father, so for him to ask for compassion, he didn't deserve it."

While Ramos and Gallardo survived, the scars left from their injuries will last a lifetime.

Their close friend died, and Gallardo lost a leg in the crash.

“That's what we came for, to fight for them,” Gallardo said. “To give a better future for my wife, my kids, my mom, my grandma and my brother. So that's what hurts."

Alvarez's defense team told the jury their client blacked out before the crash.

It’s a statement Alvarez repeated when he took the stand during the sentencing phase of his trial.

Alvarez cried as he told the jury the crash was not intentional, and said he was sorry.

In the end, it wasn't enough.

“We knew that coming in, it was going to be a difficult because of the exterior pressure and the bias and everything and just the way that this case looks,” criminal defense attorney Sergio Galvan said. “My heart goes out to the families whose lives were lost, the people that were lost.”

Maria Rodriguez's son — Cristian Jesus Sangranis — is one of the eight Venezuelan migrants who died in the crash. He was 19 when he died.

Rodriguez said Alvarez deserves his 60-year sentence. 

“He needs to feel the same pain that all of us mothers felt because we're eight mothers that were left with empty arms,” Rodriguez said.

The defense says they plan to appeal 

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