Grand jury indicts Columbian national for illegally reentering United States after prior kidnapping, firearms convictions

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jaime Fernandez-Alacron, 48, was indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with illegally reentering the United States after being convicted of an aggravated felony.

According to charging documents, the defendant was previously removed from the United States in 2011 and 2020. Fernandez-Alacron was deported after being convicted in New York of federal kidnapping conspiracy and firearms crimes.

Court documents detail that Fernandez-Alacron was most recently arrested in May by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. He was charged locally with felony possession of drugs and driving violations, including driving while intoxicated and without a valid license.

Illegally reentering the United States is a federal crime punishable by up to two years in prison. If the offender has a prior felony conviction (or multiple prior misdemeanor convictions of certain types), the penalty is increased to 10 years in prison, and if the offender has been previously convicted of an aggravated felony, like Fernandez-Alacron is in this case, the defendant faces up to 20 years in prison.

Kelly A. Norris, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Robert Lynch, Field Office Director, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Detroit Field Office; and Ohio State Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Charles A. Jones announced the indictment filed today. Deputy Criminal Chief Brian J. Martinez is representing the United States in this case.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

These cases were investigated and prosecuted by the Southern District of Ohio Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) as part of Operation Take Back America. HSTFs, which were established by President Trump in Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, are joint operations led by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide federal initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

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