Skip to main content
Press Release

Colombian National Pleads Guilty To Illegal Reentry and Immigration Fraud

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts

BOSTON – A Colombian national pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to illegally reentering the United States after deportation and to immigration document fraud.

Guillermo Pineda Suarez, 57, pleaded guilty to one count of illegal reentry of a deported alien, one count of possession and use of a false immigration document, and one count of false statements in an immigration document. U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for March 26, 2019. Pineda Suarez is currently in state custody awaiting trial on unrelated charges.  

On May 22, 2014, Pineda Suarez made a false statement under oath in a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form and used a counterfeit U.S. Permanent Resident Card in order to obtain employment. On March 15, 2018, Pineda Suarez was encountered by law enforcement in Boston and determined to be unlawfully present in the United States. Pineda Suarez was previously deported on Nov. 9, 2001, after a conviction for a drug trafficking crime. 

The illegal reentry charge provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. The remaining charges each provide for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Pineda Suarez will be subject to deportation upon completion of any sentence imposed. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Todd M. Lyons, Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elianna J. Nuzum of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

Updated March 1, 2019

Topic
Immigration