Five-Time Deported Illegal Alien Convicted of Illegal Reentry Into the United States Following Multiple Prior Deportations

Tallahassee, Florida – Zeno Higgs, 51, of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, has been found guilty by a federal jury in Tallahassee following a single day jury trial for illegal re-entry into the United States following prior deportation. John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the guilty verdict.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “Our nation’s immigration laws are not mere suggestions that this criminal illegal alien could disregard, but that is exactly how he viewed them as evidenced by his five prior deportations and his illegal reentry into our country yet again. Thanks to this aggressive prosecution by my office that delivered a swift guilty verdict by a jury, we will hold this criminal illegal alien accountable for his brazen criminality before kicking him out of our country once and for all.”

Court records and trial testimony revealed that on September 11, 2024, officers of the Tallahassee Police Department responded to a theft and assault of a wheelchair-bound individual at a local convenience store. Officers contacted the suspect, who was identified as an illegal alien who had been previously deported from the United States on five prior occasions. Upon the defendant’s arrest, officers of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations examined the defendant’s immigration history which documented his prior deportations on July 9, 2014; November 6, 2015; June 14, 2016; February 15, 2018; and April 18, 2024. Further testimony revealed that the defendant was previously convicted in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in 2017 of Bringing Aliens into the United States and 2022 for Illegal Re-entry into the United States. The defendant was also convicted in the Circuit Court for Broward County of Felony Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer in 2023.   

The case was jointly investigated by the Tallahassee Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jason R. Coody.

Sentencing is scheduled for December 10, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. in the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before Senior United States District Judge Robert L. Hinkle.

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.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.