Alien Pleads Guilty to Illegal Reentry as an Aggravated Felon

A man who illegally reentered the United States as an aggravated felon pled guilty on November 13, 2026, in federal court in Sioux City.

Jesus Diaz-Garcia, age 49, who was residing in Storm Lake, Iowa, but is a Mexican citizen, was convicted of one count of being an aggravated felon found after illegal reentry.

At the plea hearing, Diaz-Garcia admitted that he illegally reentered the United States after being deported to Mexico, on August 1, 2007.

On September 12, 2026, Diaz-Garcia was arrested in Buena Vista County, Iowa, for public intoxication and provided multiple aliases to law enforcement.  He was booked into the Buena Vista County jail and that same day was interviewed by officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement who determined he was illegally in the United States.  Diaz-Garcia was transferred to the custody of immigration officers who positively determined his identification, that he was a citizen of Mexico, had previously been removed from the United States on August 1, 2007, and had not sought permission to legally be present in the United States.           

Diaz-Garcia had previously been convicted in the State of Minnesota, in Lyon County, on two counts of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree which involved minor victims.  These are aggravated felony convictions. 

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Diaz-Garcia remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Diaz-Garcia faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

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 case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick T. Greenwood and was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.   

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 26-CR-04055.

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