Mexican Citizen Sentenced to 46 Months for Transportation of Aliens and Illegal Reentry

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Ruben Altunar-Lopez, a/k/a “Hervin Lopez-Javier,” age 49, a citizen of Mexico who was residing in Indiana, was sentenced last week to 46 months in prison for the transportation of aliens and his illegal reentry to the United States subsequent to a felony conviction. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Chief Patrol Agent Robert N. Garcia, United States Border Patrol, Swanton Sector, made the announcement.

As part of his prior guilty plea, Altunar-Lopez admitted that in the early morning of February 19, 2023, he picked up four aliens in the area of Mooers, New York, in his pickup truck, knowing that they did not have authorization to be in the United States. Altunar-Lopez intended to transport those individuals to other locations in the United States, including Indiana. Altunar-Lopez further admitted that he had two prior felony convictions, including a conviction in United States District Court for the District of Arizona for illegal reentry, for which he was still serving a term of supervised release.

At sentencing on November 30, Senior United States District Judge Lawrence E. Kahn also revoked Altunar-Lopez’s previously imposed term of supervised release and sentenced him to a 6-month term of imprisonment on his supervised release violations, to run consecutive to the 46-month term Altunar-Lopez received for new criminal conduct.

United States Border Patrol investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. McCrobie prosecuted the case.