Honduran Man Pleads Guilty to Unlawful Return After Removal

Gulfport, Miss. - A Honduran national pleaded guilty to the federal felony offense of unlawful return of an alien after deportation, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Jason E. Schneider, Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s New Orleans Sector.

According to court documents, Melquisedec Jonas Melgar-Garcia, 33, of Honduras, was arrested on July 13, 2021, after a Border Patrol Agent conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle he was driving on Interstate 10 in Harrison County.  Melgar-Garcia did not have a driver’s license and was determined to be illegally present in the United States.  He was transported to the Gulfport Border Patrol Station, where his identity was positively confirmed.  Official records revealed that Melgar-Garcia had been previously removed from the United States on July 11, 2013 and had illegally returned.  

Melgar-Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced on December 7, 2021.  He faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine. After completing any sentence of incarceration, he also is subject to Department of Homeland Security proceedings to remove him from the United States.  A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris is prosecuting the case.