Three Foreign Nationals Sentenced for Illegally Reentering the United States After Deportation

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that three men convicted separately of illegally reentering the United States after prior deportations were sentenced this week.

Oscar Martinez Olmedo, 44, a Mexican national, was sentenced by United States District Judge Kelley Brisbon Hodge on Tuesday to 18 months in prison for illegal reentry. Upon the completion of his sentence, he again will be removed from the country.

Olmedo had been deported from the United States in December of 2004.

Following his removal, the defendant illegally re-entered the United States and was arrested in February 2020 by the Coatesville (Pa.) Police Department on multiple state charges. He was subsequently convicted in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas of six counts of manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance, six counts of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance, and one count of illegal sale or transfer of a firearm. He also pleaded guilty to additional drug and gun charges brought in a separate case.

ICE had received an electronic notification at the time of Olmedo’s arrest in 2020. In December 2024, following the completion of his sentence on the state charges, ICE officers took Olmedo into custody. He was charged by federal indictment with illegal reentry in January of this year and pleaded guilty in February.

Jimy Noe Meza-Hernandez, 37, a Honduran national, was sentenced by United States District Judge John M. Younge on Tuesday to time served, almost four months, for illegal reentry. Having completed his prison sentence, he again will be removed from the country.

Meza-Hernandez had previously been deported in August of 2012, after he was encountered in Texas by the U.S. Border Patrol and arrested for being in the country illegally.

In September of 2024, ICE received an electronic notification that Meza-Hernandez had been arrested by the Plymouth Meeting (Pa.) Police Department. He pleaded guilty in late January to two counts of harassment and was sentenced to probation.

ICE located the defendant and took him into custody in February. In March of this year, he was charged by indictment with illegal reentry and pleaded guilty this week.

Fredy Soriano Palestino, 32, a Mexican national, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Kai N. Scott on Tuesday to time served, almost three months, for illegally reentering the United States. Having completed his prison sentence, he again will be removed from the country.

Soriano Palestino was encountered by the U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona, after illegally crossing the border, and removed back to Mexico in December of 2011. Following his removal, the defendant illegally re-entered the United States and was arrested in March of this year by local authorities in a misdemeanor case that was subsequently dismissed.

ICE received an electronic notification at the time of Soriano Palestino’s arrest, lodged a detainer, and took him into custody. In April, Soriano Palestino was charged by information with illegal reentry and pleaded guilty.

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 (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).

The cases were investigated by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Danielle Bateman, Katherine Shulman, and Kevin Jayne.