Guatemalan Man Sentenced to Prison Following Two Deportations and Committing Document Fraud

A Guatemalan man who had been deported two times and illegally returned to the United States and then used false identification documents to obtain a job was sentenced today to eight months in federal prison.

Felix Figueroa-Sanchez, age 30, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Wright County, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 26, 2017, guilty plea to one count of unlawful use of identification documents and one count of illegal reentry into the United States after a felony conviction.

At the guilty plea, Figueroa-Sanchez admitted that on December 15, 2016, he used a social security card bearing a fake name when completing employment forms to obtain a job in Eagle Grove, Iowa.  The name and social security account number on the card used by Figueroa-Sanchez belonged to a United States citizen.  Figueroa-Sanchez also admitted that he illegally returned to the United States after being deported in October 2008 and again in February 2010.  Figueroa-Sanchez was also convicted of a felony offense in May 2008 for using a false name and false identification documents to obtain a job in Postville, Iowa.  Immigration agents became aware of Figueroa-Sanchez’s illegal return to the United States in August 2017 following Figueroa-Sanchez’s arrest and conviction for assault in Wright County, Iowa, while he falsely was using the name of the United States citizen.

Figueroa-Sanchez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Figueroa-Sanchez was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Figueroa-Sanchez 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 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 17-CR-3044.

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