Criminal Indicted For Illegal Re-entry After Deportation

MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court in St. Paul, a 34-year-old Mexican national was indicted for entering the United States illegally after being deported as a criminal. Eduardo Asuncion Gallardo-Gutierrez was specifically charged with one count of illegal re-entry after deportation.

The indictment alleges that on April 10, 2013, Gallardo-Gutierrez, also known as Carlos Meza, was found in the U.S. after having been deported to Mexico in 2004, following a 1998 Iowa conviction for burglary in the third degree. On April 10, 2013, ICE-Homeland Security Investigation officers encountered Gallardo-Gutierrez while they were executing search warrants in Rochester on another matter.

If convicted of the federal charges now levied against him, Gallardo-Gutierrez faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison, followed by deportation. Any sentence would be determined by a federal district court judge.

This case is the result of an investigation by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Dunne.

An indictment is a determination by a grand jury that there is probable cause to believe that offenses have been committed by a defendant. A defendant, of course, is presumed innocent until he or she pleads guilty or is proven guilty at trial.