A federal judge sentenced two men to 70 months in prison each Monday, Nov. 9, for piloting an overloaded panga that capsized off Del Mar in May 2025, killing four people.

The dead included two children from India: Prince Patel, 14, and his 10-year-old sister, Mahi. Two Mexican citizens, Marcos Lozada Juarez, 18, and Gorgonio Placido Diaz, 55, also died, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Mahi Patel's body was never recovered. Only her foot was found weeks later near Torrey Pines, the Union-Tribune reported.

U.S. District Judge Benjamin Cheeks handed down the sentences in San Diego federal court. Jesus Ivan Rodriguez Leyva and Julio Cesar Zuniga Luna had pleaded guilty in April to charges of bringing in aliens resulting in death and bringing in aliens for financial gain, according to the Union-Tribune.

"This case is a tragedy all around, from top to bottom," Cheeks said, according to the Union-Tribune, noting the poverty and cartel victimization that drove the two men to agree to lead the smuggling attempt. He added that four people were no longer alive because of the defendants' actions.

What prosecutors said happened

The panga launched from Popotla, a small fishing village south of Rosarito, Mexico, carrying 19 people, prosecutors said. Engine trouble forced the group back to shore almost immediately, but the smugglers who recruited Rodriguez and Zuniga demanded they try again, according to defense attorneys' sentencing documents cited by the Union-Tribune.

The vessel traveled roughly 11 hours overnight into U.S. waters without lights or a radio. Prosecutor Sean Van Demark told the court the engine was held together by duct tape, the Union-Tribune reported.

As the panga neared the Del Mar shore around sunrise on May 5, 2025, Rodriguez and Zuniga told passengers to remove their life jackets so they could move quickly once they reached land, prosecutors alleged, according to NBC San Diego. Some passengers did not know how to swim, NBC San Diego reported.

The engine failed about 200 yards from the beach. A wave struck the boat's side and the panga overturned.

Rescue efforts and sentencing arguments

Defense attorneys argued both men stayed to help after the capsize rather than fleeing. Video of the incident showed Rodriguez dragging one woman to shore, returning to the water to pull out another person and attempting CPR on at least one victim, the Union-Tribune reported.

"He could have run away, but he didn't," defense attorney Danni Iredale told the judge, according to the Union-Tribune.

Van Demark countered that the defendants should not receive credit for rescuing people they had put in danger. Cheeks said he did weigh their rescue efforts and believed both men were remorseful, but he hoped the sentences would deter other potential smugglers from attempting the same ocean crossing, the Union-Tribune reported.

Death penalty was considered, then dropped

Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called on the Department of Justice to seek the death penalty the day after the capsize, the Union-Tribune reported. Van Demark said the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego quickly recommended against it, and the Department of Justice agreed. The judge and attorneys on both sides agreed the four deaths resulted from poor choices and a tragic mishap, not the type of intentional harm that would warrant the death penalty, the Union-Tribune reported.

U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement that the sentences reflected the serious consequences of placing greed above human life, according to the Union-Tribune.

Both men are expected to be deported after completing their prison terms. Three other defendants who pleaded guilty to transporting survivors from the scene were previously sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 21 months, the Union-Tribune reported.