Guatemalan Man Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Reentering the United States

A Guatemalan man who illegally returned to the United States after being deported was sentenced November 20, 2018, to four months in federal prison.

Jorvic Mendez-Mendez, age 26, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Webster City, Iowa, received the prison term after an August 23, 2018, guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry into the United States.

At the guilty plea, Mendez-Mendez admitted he had previously been deported from the United States in April 2012 and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government.  Mendez-Mendez was found by immigration agents in July 2018 after Mendez-Mendez was charged in Franklin County, Iowa with driving while barred.  Mendez-Mendez admitted he illegally returned to the United States in 2014.

Mendez-Mendez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by Chief United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Mendez-Mendez was sentenced to 121 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.

Mendez-Mendez 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 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 18-CR-3031-LTS.  Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.