Florida Man Enters Guilty Plea to Illegal Re-entry Charges

Columbia, South Carolina---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Juan Jose Victoria Sanchez-Lara, age 33, from Davie, Florida, pled guilty in federal court in Florence, South Carolina, to Illegal Re-Entry into the United States after Deportation, a violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a).  United States District Judge Bryan Harwell, of Florence, accepted the plea and will impose sentence after he has reviewed the presentence report which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that on July 4, 2017, ICE-Enforcement Removal Operations Officers in Charleston, SC, discovered Juan Jose Victoria Sanchez-Lara, while he was in custody at the Horry County Detention Center on state charges. Immigration records revealed that Sanchez-Lara was a native and citizen of Honduras who had previously been deported from the United States on multiple occasions. Sanchez-Lara has never received permission to enter or remain in the U.S. 

The case was investigated by the Horry County Police Department and agents of ICE-Enforcement Removal Operations.  Assistant United States Attorney A. Bradley Parham of the Florence office prosecuted the case.

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