ST. THOMAS – U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced today that a Dominican Republican national was arrested Friday, June 11, 2021, on St. Thomas on criminal charges related to allegedly illegally reentering the United States.
According to court documents, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents discovered Timoteo Upia-Frias, 73, living in a neighborhood on St. Thomas while conducting an operation investigating undocumented immigrants in the United States Virgin Islands.
Criminal and immigration records confirmed that on September 6, 2016, Timotero Upia-Frias was removed from the United States by ICE agents and returned to his native country, the Dominican Republic, following his conviction in the District Court of the United States in 2008 for possessing with intent to distribute heroin.
Upia-Frias is charged with illegal reentry pursuant to 8 U.S.C § 1326. If convicted, Upia-Frais faces up to 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
HSI and ICE are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Payne is prosecuting the case.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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