MEXICAN WOMAN SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR ILLEGAL REENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Griselda Vazquez-Duran, 46, of the country of Mexico was sentenced yesterday to six months in prison after previously pleading guilty to illegal reentry of a removed alien. The sentence was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

According to court records, Vazquez-Duran was discovered to be illegally in the United States after she was encountered in Leon County, Florida, and arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol for operating a motor vehicle without a valid license. Upon being booked into the Leon County Jail, Vazquez-Duran was fingerprinted. Based on her fingerprints, law enforcement determined that she was a Mexican national who had been previously deported or removed from the United States in June 2013. Vazquez-Duran had not applied for nor obtained permission from the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney General to reenter the United States.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi have made enforcing our nation’s immigration laws a top priority, and my office will continue to aggressively pursue these cases to deter future illegal reentries.  I want to thank our federal, state, and local partners for their hard work as we fight to keep our communities safe.”

“This sentence underscores the critical importance of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement important role in upholding the rule of law, maintaining the integrity of our legal system, and protecting the fabric of American society,” said Homeland Security Investigations Tallahassee Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno. “When individuals blatantly ignore our laws, it erodes public trust and puts our community’s safety at risk.”

The conviction and sentence were the result of a joint investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol and the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Harley Ferguson and Justin M. Keen.

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