SCHALLER, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa trucking company linked to the deadly case of immigrant smuggling in Texas has a history of safety and tax violations and financial problems. Records show that Pyle Transportation Inc. failed to pay federal employment and trucking taxes for years, faced lawsuits over unpaid wages owed to drivers, and has been ordered to pay penalties for violations of federal safety rules.
The IRS and others who say the company owes them money have often found no assets to garnish. The company and its driver insist they know nothing about how dozens of immigrants became packed inside the trailer of its 18-wheeler found in the searing heat outside a San Antonio Walmart over the weekend. Ten of those passengers died and more than 15 others were hospitalized with extreme dehydration.
The driver, James Matthew Bradley Jr., faces a federal human smuggling charge that carries the possibility of the death penalty.