Mexican Man Pleads Guilty to Unlawful Return After Removal

Gulfport, Miss. – A Mexican national pleaded guilty to unlawful return of an alien after deportation, announced 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, Filemon Perez-Julian, 49, was arrested on October 4, 2021, on Interstate 10 in Harrison County, following a vehicle stop by a U.S. Border Patrol agent.  Perez-Julian was a passenger in the vehicle and was identified as being illegally present in the United States. Perez-Julian was transported to the Gulfport Border Patrol Station, where his identity was positively confirmed.  Official records revealed that Perez-Julian had been arrested on several occasions by federal officials and had been given multiple voluntary departures as well as being formally ordered deported by a U.S. Immigration Judge in 2009.  He was removed from the United States and, later in 2009, he unlawfully returned.  Record checks also revealed that after unlawfully returning to the U.S., his prior deportation or removal was reinstated, and he was physically removed again in June 2009. 

Perez is scheduled to be sentenced on March 4, 2022 at 10:00 a.m.  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 the prosecutor for the case.