Mexican National Sentenced for Illegally Reentering U.S.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Mexican national, who had previously been deported after shooting at a police officer, has been sentenced in federal court for illegally reentering the United States.

Francisco Ortega-Montalvo, 36, a citizen of Mexico residing in Platte City, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips on Thursday, March 31, 2016, to four years and three months in federal prison without parole.

On Nov. 4, 2015, Ortega-Montalvo was convicted at trial of illegally reentering the United States after having been deported following his felony conviction for shooting at a police officer.

Ortega-Montalvo was convicted in Arkansas state court in 2001 of aggravated assault and sentenced to 54 months in the Arkansas Department of Corrections. He was deported and removed from the United States in 2013 and permanently barred from entering, attempting to enter, or being in the United States at any time, due to his conviction.

Ortega-Montalvo was arrested at his residence on Dec. 10, 2014.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Venneman. It was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).