Mexican Man Sentenced to Prison for Possessing Ammunition While in the Country Illegally
BIRMINGHAM -- A federal judge this week sentenced a Mexican man to more than two years in prison for possessing ammunition while in the United States illegally, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Raymond R. Parmer Jr., special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans.
U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced JUAN DIEGO VILLA-FRANCISCO, 30, to two years and four months in prison. A federal jury convicted Villa-Francisco in July on the charge of being an illegal alien in possession of two boxes of .38 caliber ammunition in February. He had possessed the ammunition while living in an apartment in Homewood and while participating in a prostitution ring, according to court records.
Villa-Francisco was one of three men convicted in the case. Jose Garcia-Gonzalez, 29, and Nicolas Miranda-Flores, 34, pleaded guilty in May to a charge of harboring an illegal alien for the purpose of prostitution and were sentenced in August. Garcia-Gonzalez was sentenced to the five months he served in jail between his arrest and sentencing, and Miranda-Flores was sentenced to one year and a day in prison.
“We are committed to the prosecution of cases like this one, where the defendants were all in the country illegally and running an illicit business from their apartment,” Vance said. “The ammunition Villa-Francisco possessed made him an even greater threat to the community.”
According to court records, the men were involved in a prostitution business being run out of the Homewood apartment where they were living. They were using business cards with phone numbers and the phrase, “Pollos Rostizados” -- Spanish for “roast chicken” -- to advertise the prostitution business. Hoover police and HSI agents found the Remington .38 cartridges and identification for Villa-Francisco in a box in his bedroom during a February search of the apartment. After his arrest, police found the “pollos rostizados” business cards in Villa-Francisco’s pants pocket.
Hoover Police and HIS investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Fortune prosecuted the case.
