The trial of Tyrone Williams, the truck driver charged for his role in the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants, has been postponed indefinitely. Williams is facing the death penalty in 58 counts of transporting illegal immigrants.

The charges stem from a smuggling operation attempted by Williams in 2003. The operation went wrong when Williams’ trailer – which was being used to move at least 74 illegal immigrants from South Texas to Houston – was abandoned at a truck stop near Victoria , TX .

Nineteen people died as a result. Seventeen of them died inside the trailer of dehydration, overheating and suffocation. Two others died later.

The Associated Press reported that U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore issued an order the week of Oct. 30 stating that the jury selection and the trial “are cancelled until further notice.”

Gilmore did not say when the trial would begin, though she did move the trial date of three other people involved in the smuggling ring. That trial, originally slated for November 2006, will now begin Jan. 5.

Prosecutors had been attempting to put the trial on hold until the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issues a ruling on the prosecutors’ request to retry Williams on all 58 counts.

In March, Williams was convicted of 38 of 58 smuggling counts. The jury in that trial was deadlocked on the rest, leading prosecutors to pursue a retrial on all 58 charges.

Gilmore, however, has said she has a problem with the retrial request because Williams was convicted on 38 of the counts. She took the death penalty off the table for 19 of those counts because the jury in the first trial couldn’t answer questions on whether Williams bore direct responsibility for the immigrants’ deaths.

The Houston Chronicle reported that the U.S. Justice Department has had almost 70 cases in which it has sought the death penalty under an 11-year-old smuggling law. Those cases are rare, legal experts told the newspaper, because it is difficult to convince a jury to deliver a death penalty for smuggling.