MEXICAN MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ILLEGALLY REENTERING THE COUNTRY

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Elpidio Abelardo Perez-Perez, pleaded guilty in federal court to illegal reentry by a removed alien. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “Enforcing our nation’s immigration laws and removing violent illegal aliens from our communities has been a top priority defined by President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi. My office will continue to aggressively prosecute these offenses to deter future violations of our national immigration laws and to keep our communities safe from violent illegal aliens.”

Court documents reflect that Perez-Perez was first encountered by immigration officials following his arrest for aggravated assault with a weapon and discharging a firearm in Escambia County, Florida. Perez-Perez was determined to be in the United States illegally and was removed to Mexico in August 2010. He was removed and deported again in June 2012 and January 2013. He was most recently found in the country on February 17, 2025.

Perez-Perez faces up to two years in prison followed by removal from the United States.

The case involved an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alicia Forbes.

Sentencing is scheduled for November 6, 2025, at 1:00 pm at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola before United States District Judge T. Kent Wetherell, II.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline ) 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. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

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, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.