Federal Grand Jury Indicts Honduran National for Illegally Possessing Firearm and Illegal Re-Entry After Having Been Removed from the U.S. on 2 Prior Occasions

Bowling Green, KY – A federal grand jury in Bowling Green, Kentucky, returned an indictment today charging a Honduran national with illegally re-entering the United States and possessing a firearm.   

U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Rana Saoud of Homeland Security Investigations, Nashville, Sam Olson, Field Office Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Chicago, U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement, and Special Agent in Charge John Nokes of the ATF Louisville Field Division made the announcement.

According to the indictment, Alexis Pinto-Mejia, age 38, a citizen of Honduras, was charged with possessing a firearm on February 25, 2024, in Warren County, Kentucky, knowing he was illegally and unlawfully in the United States. Pinto-Mejia was also charged with illegally re-entering the United States after having previously been denied admission, excluded, deported, and removed from the United States on or about April 4, 2006, and July 6, 2016.

The defendant previously made an initial appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky on a federal complaint and arrest warrant. The Court ordered the defendant detained pending trial. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. The Court ordered the defendant detained pending trial.

There is no parole in the federal system.

This case is being investigated by HSI Bowling Green, ATF Bowling Green, and ICE ERO.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Yurchisin II, of the U.S. Attorney’s Bowling Green Branch Office, is prosecuting the case.

This case is 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 (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

An indictment or complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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