Federal Prosecutors Charge 34 Defendants This Week with Being Illegal Aliens Found in the United States Following Removal

LOS ANGELES – Working alongside law enforcement partners at United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against 34 defendants this week who allegedly were found in the U.S. following removal, the Justice Department announced today.   

Many of the defendants charged were previously convicted of felonies before they were removed from the United States.

The crime of being found in the United States following removal carries a base sentence of up to two years in federal prison. Defendants who were removed after being convicted of a felony face a maximum 10-year prison sentence and defendants removed after being convicted of an aggravated felony face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.

Some of the recently filed cases are summarized below:

• Jesús Aguilar García, 34, of Mexico, is charged via a federal criminal complaint with being an illegal alien found in the United States after removal.  Aguilar, who was removed from the U.S. in 2008 and again in 2011, has a state conviction for unlawful intercourse by a person over 21 with a person under 16 in 2023, for which he was sentenced to two years’ probation. He also has prior state convictions for felon in possession of a firearm in 2021, carrying a concealed weapon with a criminal street gang allegation in 2010, and possession of a controlled substance for sale in 2010, each of which received sentences of 16 months’ imprisonment. Finally, he has a 2013 federal conviction for 1326 for which he received a sentence of 30 months’ imprisonment. Assistant United States Attorney John A. Balla of the Riverside Branch Office is prosecuting this case.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations are investigating these matters. 

A criminal complaint contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).