Jackson, Miss. – Jesus Christian Miranda-Alcantar, 33, an illegal alien from Mexico, has been charged in a federal indictment with attempted bribery of a federal officer and illegal reentry following deportation from the United States, announced United States Attorney Mike Hurst, Gilbert Trill, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans, and William Joyce, Acting Field Office Director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury on November 17, 2020, charges Miranda-Alcantar with one count of attempted bribery of a federal officer, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 201, and one count of illegal reentry to the United States following deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326.
In September 2020, Miranda-Alcantar was found in Hinds County, following his arrest on a domestic violence charge, present without necessary permission to be in the United States since ICE had removed him from the United States in 2013. While being transported to jail from immigration processing at the ERO offices in Pearl, Miranda-Alcantar offered to pay the federal officer transporting him a bribe of $8,000, if the officer would stop, let Miranda-Alcantar out of the vehicle by the side of the road, and let Miranda-Alcantar escape.
On December 1, 2020, Miranda-Alcantar appeared for arraignment on the indictment before United States Magistrate Judge Linda Anderson in Jackson. The Court ordered Miranda-Alcantar detained in U.S. Marshals custody while awaiting trial.
Miranda-Alcantar faces maximum penalties of 15 years in prison for the count charged for bribery, and two years in prison on the immigration charge. Each count also can merit a fine of up to $250,000.
Trial has been set for February 1, 2021, before U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves in Jackson.
U.S. Attorney Hurst commended the work of the Special Agents with the Department of Homeland Security’s ICE and ERO who investigated the case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Theodore Cooperstein.
The public is reminded that an indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.