Two men who illegally re-entered the United States from Mexico were sentenced on October 31, 2011, to federal prison.

Carlos Pena-Curiel, age 39, from Mexico and Celso Pacheco-Mendoza, age 30, from Mexico received the prison terms after September 22, 2011, guilty pleas to illegal re-entry.

At his guilty plea, Pena-Curiel admitted he had been deported from the United States on December 9, 2007. Pena-Curiel was encountered by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on May 19, 2011, in Hancock County, Iowa, after his arrest for traffic offenses.

At his guilty plea, Pacheco-Mendoza admitted he had been deported from the United States on November 5, 2004. Pacheco-Mendoza was encountered by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on July 27, 2011, in Monona County, Iowa, while incarcerated for operating while intoxicated.

Pena-Curiel and Pacheco-Mendoza were sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett. Pena-Curiel was sentenced to 5 months’ imprisonment. Pacheco-Mendoza was sentenced to 6 months’ imprisonment. They both must also serve a one year term of supervised release after their prison terms. There is no parole in the federal system.

Both men are being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until they can be transported to federal prisons.

The cases were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Fletcher and investigated by HSI and the Enforcement and Removal Office of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file numbers are CR11-3035 and CR11-4116.

 

 

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