Four Mexican Nationals With Prior Deportations Are Sentenced For Illegal Reentry

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Four Mexican nationals were sentenced today in federal court in Charlotte for illegally reentering the United States after being deported, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. presided over the sentencings.  The four defendants will also be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of their sentences.

Eli Vega Delao, 39, a Mexican national formerly residing in Charlotte, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and two years of supervised release.  On March 27, 2018, Delao pleaded guilty to unlawful reentry after a felony conviction. According to court records, Delano has prior state convictions, including a drug-related conviction in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a 2015 federal illegal reentry conviction in Greensboro, N.C.  Immigration judges have ordered Delao’s removal from the United States on at least nine occasions.  Judge Conrad gave Delao a sentence at the high end of the applicable Sentencing Guidelines range, and stated that the defendant, “had not shown respect for immigration rules and the laws of the United States and needed adequate deterrence to avoid his illegal returning to this country.”

Carlos Arturo Aguilar Galeno, 43, of Mexico, was sentenced to 12 months in prison and one year of supervised release.  Galeno was arrested in Gaston County in May 2018, for Methamphetamine Trafficking and related charges.  Court records show that law enforcement determined that Galeno was in the country illegally.  Galeno has prior state and federal convictions, including a federal drug trafficking conspiracy conviction in Tucson, Arizona.  According to court records, Galeno had been previously removed from the United States to Mexico eight times, and at the time of his recent arrest an order for Galeno’s deportation or removal was outstanding.  Galeno pleaded guilty to illegal reentry of a deported alien on August 2, 2018. 

Hardoldo Garcia Racancoj, 44, of Mexico and residing in Charlotte, was sentenced to eight months in prison. Racancoj pleaded guilty on April 20, 2018, to unlawful reentry by a deported alien.  At the time of his arrest, an order for Racancoj’s deportation or removal was outstanding. 

Judge Conrad also sentenced Jose Jesus Ramirez Orduna, 40, of Mexico, to 10 months in prison and one year of supervised release.  Orduna was arrested in Union County on April 18, 2018.  Prior to that, Orduna had been arrested and removed from the United States on at least two occasions. Orduna pleaded guilty to one count of reentry of a deported alien on August 3, 2018.

In making todays’ announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in Charlotte for their assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Smith, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the cases.