A man who illegally returned to the United States after being deported was sentenced today to three months in federal prison.
Fernando Garcia-Guerrero, age 35, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States and residing in Williamsburg, Iowa, received the prison term after a guilty plea on February 14, 2022, to one count of illegal reentry into the United States after having been deported.
At the guilty plea, Garcia-Guerrero admitted he had previously been deported from the United States and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government. Garcia-Guerrero was deported to Mexico by immigration officials in March 2005. He claimed to have illegally re-entered the United States by wading across the Rio Grande River near Hidalgo, Texas, in August 2005. In August 2017, Garcia-Guerrero was deported to Mexico following his arrest on state charges in Texas. In September 2017, Garcia-Guerrero was caught by immigration officials in the Rio Grande Valley near Hidalgo, Texas and was again deported to Mexico. On January 12, 2022, immigration officials learned Garcia-Guerrero had illegally returned to the United States and found Garcia-Guerrero at the Iowa County Jail following his arrest on state charges.
Garcia-Guerrero was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Garcia-Guerrero was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a one-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Garcia-Guerrero is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be turned over to immigration officials.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 22-CR-06.
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