Dominican Republic Citizen Charged with Illegally Reentering the United States

St. Thomas, USVI – United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert for the District of the Virgin Islands announced that a federal complaint has been filed charging Eilin Castillo-Montano with illegally reentering the United States. According to court documents, authorities received information in May of 2020 that an individual who had previously been deported from the United States was living in a residential neighborhood on St. Thomas. The ensuing investigation revealed that the individual was Eilin Castillo-Montano.

Criminal and immigration records checks confirmed that on April 19, 2016, Eilin Castillo-Montano was removed from the United States by Immigration Officers of the Immigration & Naturalization Service and returned to his native country, the Dominican Republic, following his conviction for possessing a firearm by an illegal alien on August 31, 2015, in the District Court of the United States.

Eilin Castillo-Montano was apprehended by law enforcement on August 10, 2020. According to court documents, he acknowledged that he entered the U.S. Virgin Islands in January of 2020, travelling by boat form Tortola, British Virgin Islands to St. John and then to St. Thomas.

A detention hearing was held before the Honorable Ruth Miller on Tuesday August 11, 2020. Castillo-Montano was released to home incarceration, among other conditions.

United States Attorney Shappert reminds the public that a criminal complaint is merely a charging document and is not evidence of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement.