Derrick Terelle Sankey drove migrants who had entered the U.S. illegally in Starr and Hidalgo counties along the Rio Grande further north to locations near Jim Wells County between March 21, 2021, and Sept. 13, 2021, according to court documents filed in the Southern District of Texas. (Mark Otte/Joint Task Force Lone Star)
AUSTIN, Texas — A former Alabama National Guard soldier pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to driving migrants from the Mexican border into Texas while he was deployed to assist Customs and Border Protection.
Derrick Terelle Sankey drove migrants who had entered the U.S. illegally in Starr and Hidalgo counties along the Rio Grande further north to locations near Jim Wells County between March 21, 2021, and Sept. 13, 2021, according to court documents filed in the Southern District of Texas.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Sankey was recruited by smugglers because his military service alongside Border Patrol agents gave him knowledge of immigration enforcement activities in the Rio Grande Valley, according to court documents.
He primarily served as a scout to advise other drivers of law enforcement who might stop the loads of migrants being driven north.
Sankey’s pay in the scheme was based on the number of migrants being transported in each event, the documents said.
As part of the plea agreement, a second drug-related charge against Sankey was dropped, according to court documents.
The former soldier was first arrested and charged in September 2021 with moving and distributing cocaine after he was caught delivering drugs to an undercover agent from Homeland Security Investigations while wearing his National Guard uniform and driving a Border Patrol vehicle.
He pleaded not guilty and had been waiting nearly three years for his jury trial when a federal grand jury indicted him last month on a second charge of human smuggling.
Chief Judge Randy Crane in McAllen accepted Sankey’s guilty plea Thursday and allowed him to remain free on bond until his sentencing hearing Nov. 12.
The Alabama National Guard confirmed Sankey was serving on federal orders at the southwest border in 2021 when he was arrested. He left the Guard as a specialist in July 2023 after nearly four years of service, the state said.
Former President Donald Trump in April 2018 ordered National Guard troops to serve at the southwest border and President Joe Biden has continued that mission.
The Guard members work alongside Border Patrol agents in a variety of support roles that allow those federal agents to conduct direct border security.
It is separate from a state-sponsored mission in Texas ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott. Those troops work for the state of Texas and patrol the border alongside state police. However, other states have contributed troops to Texas since the mission known as Operation Lone Star launched in 2021.
Sankey is not the only service member to get caught up in criminal activity while deployed to the border. At least three other soldiers from the Texas and Louisiana National Guards and the active Army have been arrested for charges of smuggling migrants while deployed to the border.
