YUMA, Arizona – Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to the Wellton station apprehended a Honduran migrant with a felony conviction for lewd or lascivious acts upon a child under 14 years of age Tuesday night.

The 30-year-old man was apprehended as part of a group of 12 migrants who illegally entered the United States and tried to evade detection and apprehension by traversing through the Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge southeast of Yuma. Wellton agents arrested the group and discovered that Brian Cruz-Gutierrez had the felony conviction in 2013 in Pomona, California, and was sentenced to three years in prison.

After serving his sentence for the conviction, Cruz-Gutierrez was removed from the U.S. in 2016. He will be prosecuted for reentry of a felon after a prior removal.