Alien Indicted For Re-Entry

     The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging an illegal alien from Nicaragua with unlawful re-entry into the United States.

     According to U.S. Attorney Peter Smith, Juan Carlos Tellar-Mendoza, age 27, of Lackawanna County, an alien previously been deported from the United States, was charged by the grand jury for allegedly re-entering the United States on or before May 4, 2014, at an unknown place.

     If convicted, Juan Carlos Tellar-Mendoza faces a term of imprisonment of two years of imprisonment.

     The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Philadelphia.  Prosecution is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Olshefski.

     Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

     A sentence following a finding of guilty is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

     In this case, the maximum penalty under the federal statute is 2 years imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.