Prosecutions Continue In Illegal Entry Cases Involving Those With Prior Criminal Records

MINNEAPOLIS -- In the District of Minnesota, court action continued this week in two separate cases regarding foreign nationals who entered the United States illegally after being deported as criminals. In each case, the individual was charged with one count of illegal re-entry after removal.

In the first case, United States District Court Chief Judge Michael J. Davis sentenced Hugo Beltran-Aragon, age 29, to time served. Beltran-Aragon was indicted on February 15, 2011, and pleaded guilty on September 10, 2012. In his plea agreement, Beltran-Aragon admitted that on June 8, 2010, he was found in the U.S. illegally after having been previously deported to Mexico in 2003, following a Hennepin County conviction for third-degree criminal sexual conduct.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Brooklyn Park Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (“ICE ERO”). It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Deidre Y. Aanstad.

In the second case, on March 11, 2013, Sergio Vasquez, age 36, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson in St. Paul. He was indicted on January 8, 2013. In his plea agreement, Vasquez admitted that on December 4, 2012, he was found in the U.S. after having been previously deported to Mexico in 2008, following a 2003 Pennsylvania conviction for delivery of a controlled substance. On December 3, 2012, Vasquez was arrested by Minneapolis Police for DWI in connection to a personal-injury crash in south Minneapolis. He was identified as an illegal alien with a criminal record. That identification was made though the ICE’s Criminal Alien Program (“CAP”). The goal of that program is to locate criminal aliens incarcerated in federal and state prisons, as well as in local jails, and prevent them from being released into society by having them federally prosecuted for illegally re-entry. In some instances, federal prosecution occurs only after the individual has been prosecuted for the recent underlying offense.

For his crime, Vasquez faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison, followed by deportation. Judge Nelson will determine his sentence at a future hearing, yet to be scheduled. This case is the result of an investigation by the Minneapolis Police Department and ICE ERO. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Clifford B. Wardlaw.

Both men will be deported after serving their federal sentences. To learn more about the CAP, visit www.ice.gov/criminal-alien-program/