Guatemalan National Sentenced for Entering the United States After a Prior Removal

BANGOR, Maine: A Guatemalan national was sentenced today in federal court for entering the United States after a prior removal, U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee announced.

U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. sentenced Nelson Obed Mendez-Gomez, 31, to a time-served sentence of three and half months. Mendez-Gomez pleaded guilty on February 9, 2022.

According to court records, in December 2021, Mendez-Gomez was a passenger in a truck driving in Rangeley. The vehicle refused to yield despite being followed by a U.S. Border Patrol Agent who was driving in a law enforcement vehicle with emergency lights and sirens. Once the truck stopped, Mendez-Gomez was removed along with the other vehicle occupants. A subsequent records check revealed that he had previously been deported from the United States on January 1, 2013, and July 12, 2017.

The U.S. Border Patrol investigated the case.

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