El Salvadoran Man Pleads Guilty to Unlawful Return by an Alien Removed After Felony Conviction

DOJ Press

Gulfport, Miss.  – An El Salvadoran national pleaded guilty to the federal felony offense of unlawful return of an alien removed after felony conviction, announced U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Acting Chief Patrol Agent Kenneth Blanchard.

According to court documents, Yohalmo Eliseo Pineda-Cruz, 46, of El Salvador, was arrested on October 6, 2021, by the U.S. Border Patrol on Interstate 10 in Jackson County.   A Border Patrol K9 Agent, assigned to the South Mississippi Metro Enforcement Team (MET) was patrolling on Interstate-10 near Ocean Springs, when a traffic stop was conducted on a vehicle driven by Pineda-Cruz.  Pineda-Cruz did not have a driver’s license and had an extensive criminal/immigration arrest history.

Record checks revealed that Pineda-Cruz, a/k/a Eliseo Hernandez-Diaz, had been arrested on several occasions by the Border Patrol and had been officially deported or removed from the U.S. in 2012.  Since 2012, Pineda-Cruz had returned and been removed from the U.S. on multiple occasions. Official records also revealed that Pineda-Cruz had been convicted of the federal felony offense of unlawful return after removal, under his alias name of Eliseo Hernandez-Diaz, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in May 2019.  After serving his prison sentence, Pineda-Cruz’s prior removal order was reinstated and he was again physically removed from the United States in late 2019. 

Pineda-Cruz is scheduled to be sentenced on June 9, 2022.  He faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  After completing any sentence of incarceration, he also is subject to Department of Homeland Security proceedings to remove him from the United States.  A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 


The case was investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. 


Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris is the prosecutor for the case.

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