Three U.S. soldiers stationed at the Fort Hood Army post in central Texas pleaded guilty on Friday to smuggling immigrants into the United States, officials said.
Eric Rodriguez, Brandon Robbins and Christopher Wix, all active duty U.S. Army soldiers, face up to 10 years in jail. Sentencing has been set for February 2015, prosecutors and immigration officials said.
Lawyers for the three were not immediately available for comment.
An indictment unsealed in Brownsville this month said Rodriguez was arrested on Sept. 11 at a Border Patrol checkpoint in the south Texas town of Sarita. He was dressed in his Army uniform and had two immigrants hidden in the back of his pickup under his military jacket and a bed sheet.
Robbins was charged with smuggling two immigrants into Texas in April, and Wix was charged with illegally transporting two immigrants into Texas in June, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Adelina Pruneda.
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