Citizen of Honduras Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Reentering U.S. after Being Deported

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ERICK SANABRIA-HERNANDES, 34, a citizen of Honduras last residing in Stamford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 15 months of imprisonment for illegally reentering the U.S. after being deported.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Sanabria-Hernandes was encountered by U.S. Border Patrol in May 2004 after he illegally crossed the border from Mexico.  On August 23, 2005, he failed to appear at a scheduled immigration hearing in San Antonio, Texas, and was ordered removed in absentia by an immigration judge.

In December 2005, Sanabria-Hernandes was arrested by the Stamford Police Department on charges of carrying/selling a dangerous weapon and threatening second degree.  He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 18 months of incarceration.  In August 2007, he was removed to Honduras.

On July 10, 2017, Sanabria-Hernandes, using the alias Mery Sanabra-Hernandez, was arrested by Stamford Police after a domestic incident and charged with assault third degree, disorderly conduct, unlawful restraint second degree, strangulation second degree, and interfering with an emergency call.  He was convicted of strangulation second degree and risk of injury and sentenced to nine months of incarceration.

Sanabria-Hernandes was charged with one count of illegal reentry and was transferred into federal custody on April 30, 2018.  He pleaded guilty to the offense on September 19, 2018.

This matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacabed Rodriguez-Coss.