ALIEN PLEADS GUILTY TO ILLEGAL RE-ENTRY
JOSE EDGARDO ROMERO-ORTEGA, age 39, a citizen of Honduras, pled guilty in federal court yesterday before U. S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey to a one-count indictment charging him with illegal re-entry by a removed alien, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.
According to the factual basis, on August 29, 2011, ROMERO, an alien who had previously been removed from the United States, was knowingly and unlawfully found in the United States in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana without the Attorney General or the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security having expressly consented to his re-application for admission into the United States.
The indictment charging ROMERO with one count of re-entry by a removed alien also included a notice of sentencing enhancement based on ROMERO’s prior aggravated felony conviction. With the enhancement, the single count carries a maximum statutory penalty of twenty (20) years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, and three (3) years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. Sentencing has been scheduled for January 17, 2012.
The case was investigated by U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U. S. Attorney Joe La Rocca.
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