DENVER -- A Mexican man was sentenced to serve five years in federal prison for driving a van full of illegal immigrants that crashed in I-70, killing four people.

Jose Francisco Franco-Rodriguez pled guilty to charges on Feb. 4, said United States Attorney Troy Eid.

According to facts in the plea agreement, on Nov. 27, 2007, Franco-Rodriguez was driving a van eastbound on Interstate 70 packed with 14 other people in the United States illegally, when he lost control and crashed, Eid said.

The crash resulted in the death of three men and a pregnant woman, he said. Other injured passengers were transported to area hospitals.

Franco-Rodriguez fled the scene on foot immediately after the crash, Eid said, but was apprehended several hours later.

“Nothing can undo this terrible tragedy,” Eid said. “But this sentence sends a message that human smugglers should stay away from Colorado or face very serious consequences.”

“The numerous deaths caused by alien smugglers should deter anyone who considers crossing illegally into the United States,” said Jeffrey Copp, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Denver. “Alien smugglers have no regard for human life or for their passengers that they are notorious for abusing and mistreating. These sentences send a clear message to other would-be smugglers that we will work cooperatively to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”