Two Mexican Citizens Living Illegally in the United States Plead Guilty and are Sentenced for Immigration Crimes

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Today, Jesus Eduardo Villeda-Villegas, 30, and Brigido Cayetano-Galvez, 29, Mexican citizens living illegally in Huntington, each pleaded guilty to the felony offense of reentry of a removed alien and were sentenced to time served. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has immigration detainers on Villeda-Villegas and Cayetano-Galvez so they can be transferred to ICE administrative custody for removal proceedings.

According to court documents and statements made in court, law enforcement officers in Huntington encountered Villeda-Villegas on April 23, 2025, and Cayetano-Galvez on April 21, 2025. ICE agents confirmed that Villeda-Villegas and Cayetano-Galvez are citizens of Mexico in the United States illegally and had previously been deported from the United States. Villeda-Villegas and Cayetano-Galvez had no identification documents permitting them legal status in the United States.

Villeda-Villegas was removed from the United States to Mexico on March 12, 2015, after being found in Hildalgo, Texas. Cayetano-Galvez was removed from the United States to Mexico on September 2, 2015, after being found in Nogales Arizona, and on April 27, 2017, after being found in the Huntington area of West Virginia. Villeda-Villegas and Cayetano-Galvez never obtained the express consent of the Secretary of U.S. Homeland Security to reapply for admission to the United States, nor did either seek to reenter the United States through other legal means.

These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, 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. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).

“Stopping illegal immigration is a top enforcement objective of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia,” said Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston. “I commend U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for their work in these cases.”

United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearings and imposed the sentences. Assistant United States Attorneys Erik S. Goes and Jonathan T. Storage prosecuted the cases, 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.

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 Nos. 3:25-cr-79 (Villeda-Villegas) and 3:25-cr-80 (Cayetano-Galvez).

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