Illegal Alien Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Reentering the United States Following Deportation

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

Gerardo Lopez-Mendez, age 32, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Cedar Falls, Iowa, received the prison term after a July 3, 2018, guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry into the United States.

At the guilty plea, Lopez-Mendez admitted he had previously been deported from the United States in 2014 and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government.  Lopez-Mendez was found by immigration agents in Cedar Falls in May 2018 following a traffic stop of a vehicle containing six illegal aliens. 

Lopez-Mendez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade.  Lopez-Mendez was sentenced to 98 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.

Lopez-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-2028-LRR.  Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.