Man sentenced to prison for using ‘cloned truck’ to smuggle 17 people

A man was recently sentenced to prison for a human smuggling attempt using a “cloned” delivery truck.

On July 24, 2025, Mississippi resident Cezanne Megel Patterson, 29, was sentenced to 10 years in a Texas prison on charges of smuggling of persons with the likelihood of serious bodily injury or death, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety (TXDPS).

Patterson was arrested as a result of a traffic stop that took place on August 30, 2024, on US-277 outside of Del Rio, Texas.

A TXDPS trooper pulled over what appeared to be a Lowe’s Home Improvement Store delivery truck.

After the trooper noticed “discrepancies with the driver’s travel itinerary and noticed the driver demonstrating strange behavior,” a search was conducted on the vehicle.

Police discovered seventeen people “crammed inside a three-foot-wide false compartment area with no air ventilation.” After several of the people were treated for dehydration, all were handed over to Border Patrol.

Patterson was placed under arrest.

The delivery truck was later discover to be “cloned” to look like a Lowe’s truck though it was not actually affiliated with the company.

“Patterson’s case is the perfect example of the dangerous lengths smugglers will go to when risking human lives for profit,” said DPS South Texas Region Chief Arturo Dela Garza. “Human smuggling is a serious crime, and I am proud of the collaborative work between our State Troopers and local prosecutors to hold smugglers, like Patterson, accountable.”

“Our office is thankful for the hard work of Trooper Sara Hernandez and lead prosecutor Assistant District Attorney Amanda Poole in bringing this case to a successful sentence,” said Texas 63rd Judicial District Attorney Suzanne West. “We could not finish these cases without the cooperation of DPS and our other law enforcement partners. I would also like to thank Investigator Tom Wylie for all the background work that goes into completing a case like this.”