Central American Man Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Reentering the United States After Being Deported

A man who illegally returned to the United States after being deported was sentenced today to more than three months in federal prison.

Secundino Garcia-Lopez, age 37, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Ackley, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 13, 2024, guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry into the United States after having been deported.

At the guilty plea, Garcia-Lopez admitted he had previously been deported from the United States and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government.  Garcia-Lopez was previously deported in August 2012.  On April 23, 2024, immigration officials learned Garcia-Lopez had illegally returned to the United States and found Garcia-Lopez at the Mitchell County Jail following his arrest on state charges. 

Garcia-Lopez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Garcia-Lopez was sentenced to 102 days’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a one-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Garcia-Lopez is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be turned over to immigration officials.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and 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 24-CR-2018.

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