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Federal grand jury indicts woman accused of trafficking 24 people through East Texas

Maria Elizabeth Lopez, 46, was indicted on three counts.

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Texas — A federal grand jury has indicted a Houston woman accused of trafficking people for money after police say she was found in East Texas with two dozen people who entered the country illegally in her vehicle.

Maria Elizabeth Lopez, 46, was indicted on three counts related to transporting people who came to the United States without permission for her financial gain, according to court documents.

In the indictment, she is accused of knowingly engaging in a conspiracy to take people who illegally entered and stayed in the country from Texas to Florida. The grand jury said Lopez committed the acts with unknown conspirators from January to around Oct. 3.

Read more from CBS19's newspaper partner, the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

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