Man Indicted For Illegal Re-entry After Deportation

MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court, a 48-year-old Guatemalan national was indicted for entering the United States illegally after being deported as a criminal. Hector Raul Estrada-Garcia was charged with one count of illegal re-entry after deportation.

The indictment alleges that on March 7, 2013, Estrada-Garcia was found in the U.S. after having been previously deported to Guatemala in 2000, following a 1997 conviction in the District of Minnesota for distribution of methamphetamine. On March 7 of this year, Estrada-Garcia was identified in Anoka County as an illegal alien with a criminal record by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (“ICE”) St. Paul Fugitive Operations Team.

If convicted, Estrada-Garcia 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 John E. Kokkinen.

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.