Guatemalan Man Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Returning to the United States Following Prior Deportation

A Guatemalan man who illegally returned to the United States was sentenced May 21, 2018, to almost three months in federal prison.

Juan Bernal-Brito, age 27, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a April 5, 2018 guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry into the United States.

At the guilty plea, Bernal-Brito admitted he had previously been deported from the United States on February 8, 2013, and that he illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government.  On February 14, 2018, Bernal-Brito was found by immigration officers during a traffic stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Bernal-Brito claimed to have illegally reentered the United States on December 10, 2017.

Bernal-Brito was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade.  Bernal-Brito was sentenced to 84 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.  Bernal-Brito 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 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 18-CR-09-LRR.

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