Honduran National Sentenced to Five Months in Prison for Unlawfully Entering the United States

Jose Donaldo Vasquez-Santelis, 33, a citizen of Honduras, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Benton to a term of five months in prison for being illegally present in the United States after having previously been removed by immigration officials, announced Donald S. Boyce, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois. Vasquez-Santelis was charged by a Federal Grand Jury on September 6, 2017, with being an illegal alien unlawfully present in the United States and pled guilty to that offense on October 26. Vasquez-Santelis was arrested by Immigration agents on August 7, 2017, in Marion, Illinois.

Evidence supporting the guilty plea and sentence showed that Vasquez-Santelis had previously been removed or deported from the United States on two prior occasions. Vasquez-Santelis claimed that he last re-entered the country illegally in 2010.

In addition to the five-month term of imprisonment, Vasquez-Santelis was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment. After serving his term of imprisonment, Vasquez-Santelis will be removed or deported to Honduras by immigration officials.

Following his sentencing, Vasquez-Santelis was returned to the custody of the United States Marshal who will hold him until Immigration agents take him into their custody.

The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James M. Cutchin.