Alien Charged with Illegally Reentering U.S.

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that, on June 14, 2018, a federal grand jury in Hartford returned an indictment charging MIGUEL ANGEL ARCOS-VASQUEZ, also known as “Dimas Fernando Herrarte,” 26, with one count of illegally reentering the U.S. after being deported.  ARCOS-VASQUEZ, a citizen of either Mexico or Guatemala, last resided in Norwalk.

ARCOS-VASQUEZ appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam in New Haven and entered a plea of not guilty to the charge.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, ARCOS-VASQUEZ illegally entered the U.S. in or before 2014.  In March 2014, he was arrested by the Stratford Police Department for a burglary offense.  In April 2014, he also was charged with failure to appear.  He was not encountered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at this time.

It is also alleged that, in January 2016, ARCOS-VASQUEZ attempted to enter the U.S. three times through Texas, but was removed to Mexico after each attempt.

It is further alleged that, on January 24, 2017, ARCOS-VASQUEZ was arrested by the Stamford Police Department on charges of threatening in the first degree.  On January 27, 2017, under the name of Dimas Herrarte-Ramirez, he was charged by the Norwalk Police Department with sale of a hallucinogen/narcotic and criminal possession of a firearm.  ARCOS-VASQUEZ has been detained since that time, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was notified.

In October 2017, the state charges against ARCOS-VASQUEZ were resolved and he is currently serving a sentence of five years of imprisonment, execution suspended after two years.

If convicted of the charge of illegal reentry, ARCOS-VASQUEZ faces a maximum term of imprisonment of two years.

Immigration authorities are in the process of determining if ARCOS-VASQUEZ is a citizen of Mexico or Guatemala.

U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that an indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  A defendant is entitled to a fair trial at which it is the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah R. Slater.