PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A Dominican national who twice re-entered the United States illegally after removal by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been sentenced to 14 months in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.
Alinson Santana, 46, who law enforcement determined had, at various times, used ten aliases, five Social Security numbers, and five dates of birth, pleaded guilty on December 16, 2021 to Illegal Reentry.
According to charging documents and information presented to the court, Santana was arrested by Woonsocket Police on October 18, 2021, in an unrelated matter. Santana’s true identity was determined when US Immigration & Customs Enforcement officials received the results of a biometric fingerprint comparison from the FBI, which matched Santana’s fingerprint taken during a previous arrest.
U.S. Immigration records revealed that the defendant had been removed twice from the United States pursuant to Immigration Court orders. The first removal occurred on November 21, 2007, from Alexandria, Louisiana to the Dominican Republic. He was removed from the United States for a second time on September 5, 2017. Before the second removal he pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence to a charge of illegal reentry.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge William E. Smith sentenced Santana to 14 months of incarceration in federal prison to be followed by 3 years of federal supervised release.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zechariah Chaffee.
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