Foreign national sentenced to prison after escaping custody to avoid deportation

RICHMOND, Va. – A Salvadoran national was sentenced today to one year and six months in prison for obstructing an agency proceeding.

According to court documents, in July 2016, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials encountered Dennis Arnoldo Zeledon Hernandez at the U.S.-Mexico border near Hidalgo, Texas. Zeledon claimed to ICE officials that he feared gang members in El Salvador. ICE officials served Zeledon with a Notice to Appear and a warning that failure to appear may result in a removal order and arrest and detention by the Department of Homeland Security. On Sept. 13, 2016, an Immigration Judge ordered Zeledon released on bond.

In May 2018, the Immigration Court mailed a Notice of Hearing to Zeledon’s address, notifying him of his master hearing in Immigration Court on Dec. 9, 2019, in Arlington, Virginia. In addition, Zeledon made a phone call to an Immigration Court hotline that informed him of the date, time, and location of his master hearing. Zeledon failed to appear at the Dec. 9, 2019, hearing, however, and the Immigration Court ordered Zeledon removed in absentia.

On May 14, 2023, Zeledon was arrested in York, Virginia, for driving under the influence, carrying a concealed weapon, and child neglect. ICE officials received notice that Zeledon had been arrested and issued a Warrant of Removal, resulting in Zeledon’s transfer to the Caroline Detention Facility (CDF) in Bowling Green, Virginia, under ICE custody on May 17, 2023.

On July 2, 2023, Zeledon exited a building within CDF, ran across a field, scaled a fence using sheets he had tied to serve as rope, and climbed onto the roof of CDF’s Administration Building. He ran across the roof to a side facing a public parking lot, jumped to the ground, and ran across the parking lot into the nearby woods.

After Zeledon escaped from CDF, he walked for two or three days until he met a Spanish-speaking man in a parking lot outside of a restaurant. The man allowed Zeledon to use his cell phone, which Zeledon used to call his friend who lived in North Carolina. Zeledon’s friend agreed to travel to pick up Zeledon and take him back to North Carolina.

Over 100 members of law enforcement, including state, local, and federal officials, participated in the fugitive search for Zeledon. On July 7, 2023, members of the U.S. Marshals Task Force arrested Zeledon in an apartment complex in Durham, North Carolina.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Liana Castano, Field Office Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington, D.C., made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Roderick C. Young.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Day and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike C. Moore prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:23-cr-122.