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Press Release
Gulfport, Miss. – Luis Alberto Preza-Mendez, 31, an illegal alien from Mexico, was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden to 12 months and one day in federal prison, followed by one year of supervised release, for unlawful reentry by an alien after deportation or removal, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and William Joyce, Acting Field Office Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement and Removal Operations in New Orleans.
On March 12, 2019, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office notified ICE that the Defendant, Luis Alberto Preza-Mendez, had been arrested for a domestic disturbance and confessed to being an illegal alien from Mexico. Preza-Mendez was arrested and transported to the Gulfport ICE Office. He was positively identified via a fingerprint scan into the U.S. Department of Homeland Security computerized records system, which accessed his prior immigration records including photographs, fingerprints and prior removal documents. Electronic database queries confirmed that Preza-Mendez is a citizen of Mexico who had been physically removed pursuant to a lawful removal order and did not have permission to reenter the U.S.
Preza-Mendez had been officially ordered removed from the United States on October 13, 2013. After being physically removed based on this lawful order, he returned to the United States, and was again removed in 2014. Thereafter, he reentered the United States again, and was removed again on or about November 4, 2014. At the time of his most recent removal, Preza-Mendez was prohibited from entering, attempting to enter, being in the United States or applying for admission to the United States for a period of 20 years.
Preza-Mendez pled guilty on June 20, 2019, before Judge Ozerden.
U.S. Attorney Hurst praised the cooperation exhibited by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Enforcement Removal Operations, and the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney Stan Harris was the prosecutor for this case.