Convicted Felon from Mexico Sentenced to Federal Prison for Illegally Reentering the United States

A twice convicted felon who was previously deported eight times from the United States was sentenced on December 30, 2025, to more than a year in federal prison.

Odilon Fuentes-Avila, age 43, from Mexico City, Mexico, received the prison term after a September 18, 2025, guilty plea to illegal reentry into the United States.

Information from the plea and sentencing hearings showed that Fuentes-Avila, a Mexican citizen, was removed from the United States after a 2009 conviction for illegally entering the country.  At some point, he reentered the country without permission.  In 2020, he was convicted of two drug-related felony offenses and two driving while impaired offenses in Minnesota.  He was then removed again in January 2020.  Overall, he has been ordered removed from the country eight times.  At some point after January 2020, he again reentered the United States without permission.  On August 1, 2025, ICE agents found Fuentes-Avila in a county jail in Iowa after he was arrested on a warrant from Minnesota.   

Fuentes-Avila was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  White was sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a one-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Fuentes-Avila is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.  

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 was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and investigated by 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 25-CR-1037.