Smuggling of Persons
P.C. 20.05 - Smuggling of Persons
(a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally uses a motor vehicle, aircraft, or watercraft to transport an individual with the intent to:
(1) conceal the individual from a peace officer or special investigator; or
(2) flee from a person the actor knows is a peace officer or special investigator attempting to lawfully arrest or detain the actor.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an offense under this section is a state jail felony.
(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree if the actor commits the offense:
(1) for pecuniary benefit; or
(2) in a manner that creates a substantial likelihood that the transported individual will suffer serious bodily injury or death.
(d) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the actor is related to the transported individual within the second degree of consanguinity or, at the time of the offense, within the second degree of affinity.
(e) If conduct constituting an offense under this section also constitutes an offense under another section of this code, the actor may be prosecuted under either section or under both sections.