Two Mexican nationals have been found guilty of their roles in the deadliest human smuggling event in U.S. history.

Felipe Orduna-Torres and Armando Gonzales-Ortega now face life in prison. Their sentencing will be on June 27, the three-year anniversary of the crime, FOX 29 reports.

The two were charged after 53 immigrants died in the back of a sweltering tractor trailer with no air conditioning in San Antonio back in 2022. Sixty-seven illegal immigrants, including children, were found trapped in the semitrailer that had been abandoned on the side of the road after being smuggled across the border.

Jurors in federal court in San Antonio took only about an hour to convict Orduna-Torres and Gonzales-Ortega, finding that they were part of a human smuggling conspiracy that resulted in death and injury. The trial lasted two weeks. 

Police and other first responders work the scene where officials say dozens of people have been found dead and multiple others were taken to hospitals with heat-related illnesses after a semitrailer containing suspected migrants was found on Monday, June 27, 2022 in San Antonio. (Eric Gay, File)

Orduna-Torres was described as one of the leaders of the smuggling operation and Gonzales-Ortega as the coordinator.

A jury found both guilty of all charges: conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death, causing serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy; transportation of illegal aliens resulting in death; and transportation of illegal aliens causing serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy.

Police block the scene where a semitrailer with multiple dead bodies was discovered on Monday, June 27, 2022 in San Antonio. (Eric Gay, File)

Five men previously pleaded guilty to felony charges in the smuggling case, including the truck driver Homero Zamorano Jr., who was found hiding near the trailer in some bushes. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Also pleading guilty are Christian Martinez, Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal, Riley Covarrubias-Ponce and Juan Francisco D’Luna Bilbao. All five will be sentenced later this year. Another person charged in the U.S. remains a fugitive, Leachman said. Several others have been charged in Mexico and Guatemala.

“This case exemplifies why we all must pay attention. Human smuggling is dehumanizing. It’s dangerous and it can be deadly. Smuggling victims are often subject to rape, kidnapping, extortion, exploitation and more. It will not stand. Our resolve in tackling these crimes will not waver,” Matthew Gagliotti, Acting Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said, according to FOX 29.

FOX News Digital’s Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.