Honduran National Sentenced To 18 Months In Prison For Unlawfully Entering The United States

Oscar Naun Torres-Hernandez, 22, a citizen of Honduras, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Benton to a term of 18 months’ imprisonment for being illegally present in the United States after having previously removed by immigration officials, announced Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois. Torres-Hernandez was charged by a Federal Grand Jury with that offense on November 6, 2012, after he was taken into custody by an Illinois State Police trooper on October 15th at the direction of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents following a routine traffic stop on Interstate 57 in Effingham County during which the trooper learned that Torres-Hernandez was an illegal alien. He entered a guilty plea to the charge on January 3, 2013.

Evidence supporting the guilty plea and sentence showed that Torres-Hernandez had previously illegally entered and been removed from the United States to Honduras in 2009 following his conviction in Utah for Possessing Cocaine with Intent to Distribute. He illegally re-entered the country in August 2012 near Sasabe, Arizona.

In addition to the 18 month term of imprisonment, Torres-Hernandez was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment. After serving his term of imprisonment, he will be removed or deported by immigration officials.

Following his sentencing, Torres-Hernandez was returned to the custody of the United States Marshal to await designation by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to one of its facilities.

The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, and the Illinois State Police.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James M. Cutchin.