DALLAS—A Texas motorcoach operator forced out of service by federal authorities last week was involved in at least two deadly accidents in Mexico before being shut down, court records show.

Autobuses Rio Verde of Irving, Texas was ordered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration late Friday to cease interstate operations because of the company’s links to another entity, Green River Buses LLC of Dallas, which had received a similar order in April.

Court records examined by The Associated Press show a bus operated by Autobuses Rio Verde was involved in a fatal crash in Mexico July 3, less than two years after a bus operated by Green River Buses was involved in a similar crash.

The agency’s order followed inquiries by the AP into the two companies.

The July 3 accident killed a 19-year-old Houston woman and her unborn child, according to court records. The earlier accident occurred Oct. 9, 2006 and resulted in at least three deaths, including the driver and a passenger, court records show.

The FMCSA gave Autobuses Rio Verde the ok to begin transporting passengers on June 5, six weeks after Green River Buses was ordered to stop doing business due to an unsatisfactory safety rating, according to the agency.

The agency has been publicly cracking down on so-called “rogue” motorcoach operators in the wake of the an Aug. 8 bus crash near Sherman, Texas, that left 17 passengers dead. The operator in that accident, Iguala BusMex Inc., was also an offshoot of another company, Angel Tours Inc., that had been shut down earlier.

The order stated the two companies had vehicles, drivers and management in common. Autobuses owner Marco Vasquez previously was the terminal manager for Green River Buses. Green River’s owner Luis Patino was manager and safety director for Autobuses Rio Verde.

Patino did not respond to a phone message from the AP. A call for Vasquez went unanswered.

The FMCSA began investigating Autobuses Rio Verde in July and provided the company with a Notice of Violation dated Aug. 6, according to the order.

The investigation was prompted by a random roadside inspection of an Autobuses Rio Verde bus, according to Kristin Schrader, a spokeswoman for the FMCSA. The inspection revealed the company’s ties to Green River Buses, she said.

Benny Agosto Jr., the Houston attorney representing the family of the woman who was killed in the July crash, said he knew a day after getting the case that Autobuses Rio Verde was connected to Green River Buses.

“These companies have gotten used to making money by cutting corners,” he said. “Unfortunately, what’s at stake is the lives of their passengers. We’d like to see more inquiries (of this nature).”

In April, Dallas police located eight motorcycles that had been reported stolen at the West Dallas address listed for Green River Buses, according to the police report.

A warrant was issued two weeks ago for Patino’s arrest on a charge of aggravated theft, but it has yet to be served, Dallas police spokesman Kevin Janse said Monday.

Lawsuits stemming from the July 3 crash have been filed in Houston and Dallas.

The driver left the scene of the accident, which occurred 35 miles south of Nuevo Laredo, according to one of the lawsuits.

The October 2006 crash occurred in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi. It resulted from the bus colliding with a tractor-trailer after the driver fell asleep at the wheel, according to a lawsuit filed in state district court in Dallas County.