Dominican National Pleads Guilty to Illegal Re-Entry After Deportation

BOSTON – A Dominican national pleaded guilty on Friday, April 16 in federal court in Boston to illegally reentering the United States after being deported.

Danny Rivera Zorilla, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of illegal reentry into the United States after deportation. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for Aug. 25, 2021. Rivera Zorilla was indicted in February 2020.

Rivera Zorilla was arrested in 2010 and later convicted in Woburn District Court for distribution of cocaine. On March 19, 2013 he was deported to the Dominican Republic. Rivera Zorilla later reentered the United States illegally and was arrested in 2019 in Malden but released from custody. In September 2020, immigration agents located and arrested Rivera Zorilla on the charge in this case.

The charging statute provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Rivera Zorilla will face deportation proceedings upon completion of his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and Todd Lyons, Field Office Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Boston made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Mendell’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.