Mexican Man Sentenced for Unlawfully Reentering the United States

The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont and the Swanton Sector Office of the United States Border Patrol announce that Zein Diaz-Ventura, 27, a citizen of Mexico, was convicted and sentenced today in United States District Court in Rutland for reentering the United States after having previously been removed from the country.  United States District Court Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford sentenced Diaz-Ventura to time served.  Diaz-Ventura has been held without bail since his arrest on May 11, 2018.  Custody of Diaz-Ventura will be transferred from the United States Marshal’s Service to the Department of Homeland Security for removal proceedings.

According to court records, Diaz-Ventura was the passenger in a vehicle with license plates “not on file” traveling on State Route 105 in Richford, Vermont in the evening on May 11, 2018.  U.S. Border Patrol pulled over the vehicle and subsequently determined that Diaz-Ventura has two prior 2012 misdemeanor convictions for illegal entry into the United States and has been removed from the United States on three occasions.  In addition, Diaz-Ventura was convicted of misdemeanor battery (domestic violence) in Florida in 2012.

The Swanton Sector Border Patrol is responsible for securing the land border between ports of entry in Vermont as well as New Hampshire and northeastern New York. The assistance of citizens is invaluable in helping the U.S. Border Patrol accomplish their border security mission and they welcome community members to help them keep our nation’s borders safe by reporting suspicious activity at 1-800-689-3362.

For more on CBP’s mission at our nation’s ports of entry with CBP officers and along U.S. borders with Border Patrol agents, please visit the Border Security section of the CBP website.

Diaz-Ventura is represented by Assistant Federal Defender David McColgin. The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Cate.