Mexican Citizen Living Illegally in Hurricane Pleads Guilty and is Sentenced for Immigration Crime

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Lazaro Morales-Lauro, 52, a Mexican citizen living illegally in Hurricane, pleaded guilty on November 3, 2025, to reentry of a removed alien and was sentenced to time served. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has an immigration detainer on Morales-Lauro and he was transferred to ICE administrative custody for removal proceedings.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on August 26, 2025, law enforcement officers encountered Morales-Lauro during a traffic stop in Hurricane. ICE agents confirmed that Morales-Lauro was a citizen of Mexico in the United States illegally and that he had previously been deported from the United States five times. Morales-Lauro had no identification documents permitting him legal status in the United States. Morales-Lauro never obtained the express consent of the Secretary of U.S. Homeland Security to reapply for admission to the United States for either of the prior removals, nor did he seek to reenter the United States through other legal means.

United States Attorney Moore Capito made the announcement and commended the investigative work of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Hurricane Police Department.

United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan T. Storage prosecuted the case, as part of a special unit within the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia focused on the immigration enforcement objectives of Operation Take Back America.

Operation Take Back America is a nationwide 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.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:25-cr-160.

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