PHILADELPHIA — Twelve previously deported foreign nationals with criminal histories have pled guilty in federal court to illegally reentering the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Virginia and Pennsylvania.
The guilty pleas follow a renewed federal effort under President Trump’s January 20 executive orders prioritizing the enforcement of immigration laws and the prosecution of criminal immigration offenses. The cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative targeting illegal reentry and transnational crime.
Each of the individuals had previously been removed from the United States under final orders of removal and were found to have reentered unlawfully.
Among the cases:
- Noe Medrano Nuñez, 51, a Mexican national convicted in 2000 of carrying a firearm on an alcohol premises, pled guilty on June 3 in Hampton. He had been deported in 2000.
- Wuender Santos-Gonzalez, 39, of Honduras, pled guilty on June 10 in Richmond after multiple illegal entries and prior convictions including forgery and illegal reentry in 2013 and 2017.
- Roger Alfonso Marin, 55, also Honduran, was deported in 2017 and reentered illegally, leading to his guilty plea on July 15.
- Hamilton Estuardo Marroquin-Barillas, 32, a Guatemalan national using multiple aliases, was convicted after arrests in Virginia for DWI and auto theft. He pled guilty May 14.
- Alfredo Dubon-Navarro, 30, of El Salvador, was previously removed four times and pled guilty on May 22 after a DWI arrest in Henrico County.
- Walter Caceres Chavarria, 50, also Salvadoran, was convicted of illegal reentry on July 14 following previous deportations and an aggravated felony conviction.
- Otilio Herrera Morales, 40, of Guatemala, was previously removed in 2015 and pled guilty on July 23.
- Walter Lagos-Duron, 38, of Honduras, who was previously convicted of felony identity theft and, in 2024, sexual battery of two minors in Virginia, was sentenced to two years in prison on July 29 for illegal reentry.
- Felipe Perez-Cartalina, 44, of Guatemala, removed three times since 2009, pled guilty on July 29 after being arrested in Fairfax County.
- David Jonathan Rodriguez Zelaya, 36, of El Salvador, removed in 2014, pled guilty July 29 after being detained in Stafford County.
- Luis Gançalo Manobanda-Leon, 45, of Ecuador, who has a 2009 conviction for aggravated malicious wounding, was previously deported twice and pled guilty again on July 29 in Virginia Beach.
All 12 individuals remain subject to their prior orders of removal and await further proceedings by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
