Guatemalan Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Illegally Reentering the United States

A man who entered the United States illegally from Guatemala was sentenced on November 13, 2018, to 10 months’ in prison.

Elmer Martinez-Niz, age 24, from Guatemala, received the sentence after a September 17, 2018, guilty plea to one count of illegal re-entry.

At the guilty plea, Martinez-Niz admitted he had illegally entered the United States from Guatemala in 2012, after previously being deported from the U.S.  On February 15, 2017, Martinez-Niz was arrested in Osceola County for possession of controlled substance (meth), and possession of drug paraphernalia. He also has subsequent arrests in Osceola County for OWI 2^nd and driving without a license.   

Martinez-Niz was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Martinez-Niz was sentenced to ten months’ imprisonment to be served consecutively with any terms of imprisonment he may receive from the State of Iowa, Osceola County offenses. He must also serve a 1-year term of supervised release after the prison term. 

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

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Fletcher and investigated by Enforcement and Removal Office of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau.

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

The case file number is 18-CR-04011.

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