Honduran National Sentenced for Illegally Entering the US after a Prior Removal

BANGOR, Maine: A Honduran national was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Bangor for illegally entering the U.S. after a prior removal.

U.S. District Judge Stacey D. Neumann sentenced Jose Luis Matute-Duarte, 35, to time served (approximately 70 days). Following sentencing, Matute-Duarte was taken into custody for immigration proceedings and faces likely deportation.

According to court records, on March 10, 2025, a U.S. Border Patrol Agent approached Matute-Duarte outside a Brownville convenience store. Matute-Duarte told the agent he was from New Jersey and produced a New Jersey driver’s license. When asked if he was in the country illegally, Matute-Duarte initially declined to answer before acknowledging that he was. Immigration records showed that he was arrested in 2015 for illegally entering the U.S. in Texas and was removed from the country.

U.S. Border Patrol investigated the case.

Operation Take Back America: This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

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