Mexican faces up to life term for Texas ship channel death

Prosecutors say a Mexican man faces up to life in prison for the 2015 death of an immigrant struck and killed by a Coast Guard patrol boat while trying to enter the U.S. illegally.

Galdino José Ruiz Hernández of Oaxaca, Mexico, was convicted Wednesday in Brownsville of human smuggling-related charges leading to death. He remains in custody pending sentencing.

Investigators say Ruiz Hernández was in the water trying to guide the woman through the Brownsville Ship Channel when she was hit by a Coast Guard vessel on patrol.

Ruiz Hernández was arrested after reporting to Port of Brownsville officials that a friend told him he saw a woman's body floating in the channel, leading to recovery of the victim. Investigators later determined Ruiz Hernández was trying to smuggle Patricia Guadalupe Cervantes Garcia.