MAN SENTENCED FOR ILLEGAL RE-ENTRY BY AN AGGRAVATED FELON

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that VICTOR FLORES-GONZALEZ, age 31, was sentenced on Friday, August 7, 2009 to 46 months in federal prison for "Illegal Re-Entry Into the United States by an Aggravated Felon."

FLORES-GONZALEZ pled guilty to the federal charge on April 27, 2009 in United States District Court in East St. Louis, Illinois.

At his change-of-plea hearing, the Government presented evidence that FLORES-GONZALEZ was deported to Mexica upon his release from state prison in Colorado after serving a sentence for a cocaine conviction in 2005. In June, 2008, FLORES-GONZALEZ was arrested near Belleville, Illinois by the Illinois State Police after a traffic stop.

The investigation that resulted in FLORES-GONZALEZ’S conviction was conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Illinois State Police.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert L. Garrison.