A man who illegally re-entered the United States from Guatemala was sentenced on September 2, 2011, to four months in federal prison.

Edwin Santos-Vasquez, age 36, from Guatemala, received the prison term after a July 20, 2011, guilty plea to one count of illegal re-entry.

At the guilty plea, Santos-Vasquez admitted he had been deported from the United States on July 27, 2007. Agents with the Nobles County, Minnesota, Drug Task Force (DTF) were investigating individuals believed to be in the United States illegally. DTF agents contacted Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers in Bloomington, Minnesota, for assistance. The investigation revealed Santos-Vasquez was a citizen of Guatemala with a previous HSI arrest and prior removal from the United States. ICE officers discovered Santos-Vasquez was living in Worthington, Minnesota, and was employed by a construction company in Storm Lake, Iowa. On June 21, 2011, ICE officers traveled to Storm Lake and Santos-Vasquez was located at a construction work site.

Santos-Vasquez was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Donald E. O’Brien. Santos-Vasquez was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a one year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Santos-Vasquez is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was 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 number is CR11-4093.

 

 

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