Criminal Indicted For Illegal Re-entry After Deportation

MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court, a 42-year-old Mexican national was indicted for entering the United States illegally after previously being deported as a criminal. Leopoldo Rivera-Leal was specifically charged with one count of illegal re-entry after deportation.

The indictment alleges that on May 7, 2013, Rivera-Leal was found in the U.S. after being deported to Mexico in 2005, following a 1991 Texas conviction for first-degree burglary. On May 7, 2013, Rivera-Leal was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) by Steele County officials after he had finished serving a state sentence for drug possession.

If convicted of the federal charges now levied against him, Rivera-Leal will face a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison, followed by deportation. Any sentence would be determined by a federal district court judge.

This case is the result of an investigation by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Dunne.

An indictment is a determination by a grand jury that there is probable cause to believe that offenses have been committed by a defendant. A defendant, of course, is presumed innocent until he or she pleads guilty or is proven guilty at trial.