Mexican Man Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Reentering the United States

A Mexican man who illegally returned to the United States after being deported was sentenced December 10, 2018, to nearly three months in prison.

Jose Arenas-Aguilar, age 32, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States and residing in Denver, Colorado, received the prison term after an October 2, 2018, guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry into the United States.

At the guilty plea, Arenas-Aguilar admitted he had previously been deported from the United States in April 2015 and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government.  Arenas-Aguilar admitted he illegally returned to the United States in May 2015, one month after being deported.  Arenas-Aguilar had also been granted a voluntary departure from the United States in September 2012.  Arenas-Aguilar was found by immigration agents in September 2018 after he was charged in Floyd County, Iowa, with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.  That case is still pending. 

Arenas-Aguilar was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Arenas-Aguilar was sentenced to 88 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.

Arenas-Aguilar 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-2046-CJW.  Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.