Mexican National Residing Illegally in Kanawha County Pleads Guilty and is Sentenced for Immigration Crime

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Bruno Lisandro Pastrano Lopez, 39, a Mexican national living illegally in Nitro, pleaded guilty on October 9, 2025, to fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents and was sentenced to time served. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has an immigration detainer on Lopez and he was transferred to ICE administrative custody for removal proceedings.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on December 10, 2024, Lopez presented a counterfeit Social Security Card to a Dunbar employer for the purpose of verifying his employment eligibility. Lopez also signed a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, knowing it contained materially false information about his legal status in the United States and about whether the Social Security Administration had issued an account number and card to him.

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), and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin presided over the hearing and imposed the sentence. 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. 2:25-cr-131.

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