Prosecutions Continue In Illegal Re-entry Cases Involving Those With Prior Criminal Records

MINNEAPOLIS -- In the District of Minnesota, court action continued this week in St. Paul for two separate cases regarding Mexican 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, Lorenzo Armendariz-Sanchez, age 45, pleaded guilty earlier today. He was indicted on May 21, 2013, and entered his plea before United States District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank. In his plea agreement, Armendariz-Sanchez admitted that on April 21, 2013, authorities found him in the U.S. illegally after he had been previously deported. His deportation followed a 1998 Faribault County conviction for burglary in the first degree. On April 21, authorities identified Armendariz-Sanchez, also known as Lorenzo Sanchez Armendariz, as an alien with a criminal record while he was in the Blue Earth County Jail, where he was being held after an arrest for burglary and domestic assault.

Identification was made through the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (“ICE”) Criminal Alien Program (“CAP”). One of the goals 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 his crime, Armendariz-Sanchez faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison, followed by deportation. Judge Frank will determine his sentence at a future hearing, yet to be scheduled. This case is the result of an investigation by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (“ICE ERO”). It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine T. Buzicky.

In the second case, on July 18, 2013, U.S. District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson sentenced Mario Mireles-Flores, age 24, to 58 months. He was indicted on January 8, 2013, and pleaded guilty on April 2, 2013. In his plea agreement, Mireles-Flores admitted that on December 5, 2012, authorities found him in the U.S. illegally after he had been previously deported. His deportation followed a 2010 McLeod County conviction for escape from custody. Authorities recently identified him as an alien with a criminal record while he was serving a sentence in the Sibley County Jail for providing false information to police. That identification was made through the CAP.

This case was the result of an investigation by ICE ERO.

In some instances, federal prosecution occurs only after the individual has been prosecuted for the recent underlying offense. Both men will remain in custody until their current federal cases are resolved. To learn more about the CAP, visit www.ice.gov/criminal-alien-program/