Mexican National Sentenced To 21 Months In Prison For Illegal Reentry

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                           Contact ELIZABETH MORSE

www.justice.gov/usao/md                                                     at (410) 209-4885      

Greenbelt, Maryland – On May 3, 2018, United States District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Jose Juarez-Diaz, age 32, of Clarksburg, Maryland to 21 months in prison for being an unlawfully present alien, after three illegal entries and two prior deportations.   

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur and Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

According to the plea agreement, officers of the United States Border Patrol initially encountered Juarez on February 6, 2003, after they stopped him attempting to illegally enter the country near Oceanside, California.  Immigration authorities voluntarily returned Juarez to Mexico a few days later.  Juarez then reentered the United States at an unknown time and location.  In July 2003, Juarez was arrested for kidnapping during a carjacking in San Diego, California.  Juarez pled guilty to vehicle theft, a misdemeanor in California, and was sentenced to a term of probation.  An Immigration Judge ordered Juarez removed on November 6, 2003, and he was removed that same day to Mexico.

Subsequently, Juarez again illegally reentered the United States at an unknown time and location.  Juarez claims to not remember the date of his return and stated during a post-arrest statement that he walked across the border.

On March 12, 2015, Juarez was arrested in Montgomery County, Maryland after he sexually assaulted a 14-year old girl.  Juarez was convicted of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in that jurisdiction.  On September 11, 2015, a Montgomery County judge sentenced Juarez to a term of imprisonment of twenty-five years but suspended all but five years, followed by five years of probation.  On October 12, 2017, the Maryland Division of Corrections paroled Juarez after he served less than three years in prison.  Immigration authorities took Juarez into custody and he was prosecuted federally on immigration charges.

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur praised ICE and the Montgomery County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Hur thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Fish, who prosecuted the case.