DEL MAR — Two men pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges for piloting a panga boat that capsized during a human smuggling attempt off the coast of Del Mar, killing four people, including two children.
The mass-casualty incident involved a boat carrying 19 people that left Mexico on May 4, 2025, and overturned the following day.
Emergency crews found the bodies of 18-year-old Marcos Lozada-Juarez, 55-year-old Gorgonio Placido-Diaz and 14-year-old Prince Patel. Prince’s 10-year-old sister, Mahi, also died, but her remains were not discovered until several weeks later.
Several other passengers — including the children’s parents — were hospitalized with injuries ranging from minor to critical.
Jesus Ivan Rodriguez-Leyva, 27, and Julio Cesar Zuniga-Luna, 31, entered guilty pleas in San Diego federal court to charges of bringing in migrants resulting in death and bringing in migrants for financial gain.
Prosecutors said Rodriguez-Leyva acted as the boat’s captain, while Zuniga-Luna served as a co-captain and helped fuel the vessel.
According to plea agreements, migrants were paying about $13,000 each to be smuggled into the United States, while Rodriguez-Leyva and Zuniga-Luna received reduced smuggling fees in exchange for transporting others.
In court, a prosecutor recounted statements from survivors who said the defendants instructed them to remove their life jackets as they neared shore.
The vessel also experienced engine problems, including an issue that forced it to return to Mexico shortly after departing May 4, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Van Demark said.
After the initial problem was resolved, the engine continued to malfunction and ultimately failed when the boat was about 200 yards off the Del Mar coast, causing it to rotate in the water and overturn in a wave, prosecutors said.
Rodriguez-Leyva and Zuniga-Luna were arrested on the beach. Three others were arrested in vehicles that had picked up some of the migrants who made it ashore.
Those three defendants pleaded guilty to various charges and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 21 months.
Rodriguez-Leyva and Zuniga-Luna are scheduled to be sentenced in June.