WICHITA, KAN. – A Mexican national illegally present in the United States has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for possessing a firearm, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom announced.

The man, Guadalupe Carlos Rodriguez-Mendoza, 38, Sinaloa, Mexico, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Eric F. Melgren. Rodriguez pleaded guilty June 7 to possessing a loaded 9 mm Baretta handgun. Foreign nationals not lawfully present in the U.S. are not permitted to possess firearms of any kind, Grissom said.

Rodriguez was encountered in April 2009 by authorities serving a state arrest warrant when they found the handgun in his possession, according to court records. Rodriguez obtained bond in that case, was indicted by a federal grand jury on the gun charge in May 2009, but didn’t appear on the Kansas federal charges until April 2011, when he was found in Arizona facing federal charges for re-entry after deportation.

“We continue to focus on criminal aliens and making sure they are brought to justice in the United States, then deported,” Grissom said. “This has been the priority of ICE for many years and their agents have been very effective in making cases and getting results. The Rodriguez case is just another example of that.”

Grissom also praised the cooperation of the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s office, the U.S. Marshals Service and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in bringing the case to a successful conclusion. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson.

Once Rodriguez completes his federal sentence, he will be deported to Mexico. He is banned from ever reapplying for admission into the United States, Grissom said, and if he comes back illegally, he is subject to federal prosecution for re-entry after deportation and a maximum 20-year federal prison sentence. There is no parole from a federal prison sentence.

 

 

 

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