Guatemalan 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 six months in federal prison.

Miguel Jose Lopez-Garcia, age 23, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Postville, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 1, 2022, guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry into the United States after having been deported.

At the guilty plea, Lopez-Garcia admitted he had previously been deported from the United States and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government.  Lopez-Garcia was previously deported in March 2020.  On June 13, 2022, immigration officials learned Lopez-Garcia had illegally returned to the United States and found Lopez-Garcia at the Allamakee County Jail following his arrest on state charges. On September 14, 2022, Lopez-Garcia went into federal custody following his conviction in Iowa District Court for Sexual Abuse, Third Degree, and Operating While Intoxicated, First Offense.

Lopez-Garcia was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Lopez-Garcia was sentenced to six 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.

Lopez-Garcia 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 22-CR-1032.

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