Citizen of Honduras Sentenced to Time Served for Entering the United States after Removal

Portland, Maine:  United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Juan Carlos Martinez-Recarte, 38, a citizen of Honduras, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Chief Judge Nancy Torresen, to time served (about four months) in prison for illegally entering and being found in the United States after having been removed.  The defendant pleaded guilty on November 14, 2017. 

Court documents reveal that on September 20, 2017, a Maine State Police (MSP) trooper stopped a van in Portland being operated in violation of state law and found seven occupants, five of whom appeared to be foreign nationals who could not produce identification documents. Immigration officials were called to the traffic stop and determined that the defendant had no immigration documentation and was in the country illegally.  Immigration records showed that the defendant had been removed from the United States on two prior occasions, including, most recently, on November 1, 2013.

The case was investigated by the MSP and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.