Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Unlawfully Returning to United States

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Mexican national has pleaded guilty in federal court today to illegally reentering the United States.

Jose Raul Falcon-Reyes, 36, plead guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to one count of unlawfully returning to the United States. Falcon-Reyes was previously convicted of improper entry by an alien in 2015 and was subsequently deported to Mexico that same year.

On February 15, 2025, he was arrested in Pettis County, Mo., for having been convicted of felony possession of a controlled substance.

Falcon-Reyes faces up to two years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes will impose sentencing on August 28, 2025.

He has been and will remain in custody pending his sentencing hearing.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rudolph R. Rhodes IV. It was investigated by Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Enforcement & Removal Operations.

Operation Take Back America

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).