Native Of Mexico Pleads Guilty To Re-Entering The United States Illegally And Possessing Counterfeit Documents

CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Everardo Donoteo-Reyes, 27, of Mexico, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa to possession of a counterfeit social security card and alien registration card, and illegal re-entry after deportation. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle P. Rossi, who is handling the case, stated that in September 2016, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), administratively arrested the defendant in Gretna, Louisiana, and in October 2016, he was ordered removed from the United States. Upon his departure, Donoteo-Reyes was advised that he could not re-enter the United States without the permission of the United States Attorney General, or his Successor, the Secretary of Homeland Security.

On March 1, 2017, United States Border Patrol encountered the defendant in the United States and administratively arrested him in Laredo, Texas. Two days later, on March 3, 2017, Donoteo-Reyes pleaded guilty to entering the United States unlawfully and was sentenced to 15 days confinement.   On March 15, 2017, the defendant was physically removed from the United States to Mexico. Donoteo-Reyes was once again advised that he could not re-enter the United States without permission.

On May 24, 2018, the defendant was arrested by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office on New York State criminal charges. The sheriff’s office sent Donoteo-Reyes’s fingerprints to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). An immigration records check determined that the defendant had no valid immigration status and was again illegally present in the United States. During the course of an investigation into the defendant’s missing girlfriend and her son, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office located fraudulent documents belonging Donoteo-Reyes, including a counterfeit alien registration card bearing defendant’s photograph, as well as a fraudulent social security card.

Donoteo-Reyes was subsequently indicted for the murder of his girlfriend and her toddler son. He pleaded guilty to 1st Degree Manslaughter on September 11, 2019, and he is scheduled to be sentenced on November 7, 2019.

“Although a violent crime, such as that to which this defendant pled guilty in New York State Court, may not be more egregious simply because it was committed by an illegal alien as opposed to a United States citizen or anyone else,” stated U.S. Attorney Kennedy, “what is particularly frustrating is that the defendant should never have had the opportunity to commit such a heinous crime in the first place. Simply put, the defendant should not have been in the United States, and the public needs to recognize that our immigration laws exist not only to punish those, like this defendant, who violate them but to protect those, like his girlfriend and her son, who do not. This Office will work tirelessly to continue to protect our community by faithfully discharging our duty to uphold all of the laws of our great Nation.”

The plea is the result of an investigation by agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly.

Donoteo-Reyes is scheduled to be sentenced on the federal charges on December 16, 2019, before Judge Siragusa.

# # # #