Man Sentenced for Illegal Re-Entry Charges

Columbia, South Carolina---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Efran Bautista-Ayala, age 45, from Myrtle Beach was sentenced in federal court in Florence, South Carolina, for Illegal Re-entry into the United States after deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a)(2).  United States District Judge R. Bryan Harwell, of Florence, sentenced Bautista-Ayala to 18 months imprisonment followed by three years of supervised released.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing on February 27, 2017, established that on November 9, 2016, ICE-Enforcement and Removal Operations Officers from Charleston discovered Bautista-Ayala while he was in custody at the Horry County Detention Center on state charges. Records checks revealed that Bautista-Ayala was a native and citizen of Mexico who had previously been deported from the United States.  Bautista-Ayala has never received permission to enter or remain in the United States. 

The case was investigated by agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Enforcement and Removal Operations.  Assistant United States Attorney A. Bradley Parham of the Florence office prosecuted the case.

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