Guatemalan Man Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Reentering the United States After Being Deported Two Times

A man who illegally returned to the United States after being deported was sentenced today to more than three months in federal prison.

Jose Cerillo-Cerillo, age 31, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a guilty plea today to one count of illegal reentry into the United States.

In a plea agreement, Cerillo-Cerillo admitted he used a fictitious Social Security number and a fraudulent permanent resident card, also known as a “green card,” when he completed employment and tax forms using a fake name in June 2018 at a business in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  The Alien Registration number on the “green card” used by Cerillo-Cerillo was issued to another person.  On the employment application, Cerillo-Cerillo falsely claimed to be a lawful permanent resident of the United States.  However, Cerillo-Cerillo was previously deported from the United States in October 2012 and January 2013 and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government.  On March 4, 2020, Cerillo-Cerillo was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers during the execution of a search warrant as part of an investigation of document fraud in Cedar Rapids. 

Cerillo-Cerillo was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Cerillo-Cerillo was sentenced to 111 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.

Cerillo-Cerillo 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 20-CR-23. 

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