Myrtle Beach Man Sentenced on Illegal Re-entry Charges

Columbia, South Carolina---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Edgar Benjamin Lopez-Morales, age 29, from Myrtle Beach, was sentenced in federal court in Florence, South Carolina, for Illegal Re-Entry into the United States after Deportation, a violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a)(2).  United States District Judge Bryan Harwell, of Florence, sentenced Lopez-Morales to 15 months imprisonment.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that on February 26, 2017, ICE-Enforcement Removal Operations Officers in Charleston, SC, discovered Edger Benjamin Lopez-Morales, while he was in custody at the Horry County Detention Center on state charges. Immigration records revealed that Lopez-Morales was a native and citizen of Honduras who had previously been deported from the United States on multiple occasions. Lopez-Morales 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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