The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has announced the sentencing of Onassis Alexander Tejeda-Arias, a 42-year-old Dominican Republic national. He received a 51-month prison sentence from United States District Judge Julia K. Minley for illegally reentering the United States after deportation following an aggravated felony.
Acting United States Attorney John Gurganus stated that Tejeda-Arias had entered the U.S. illegally on at least two occasions. Initially residing in Lawrence, Massachusetts since 2009, he was deported to the Dominican Republic on October 16, 2018, after a Massachusetts conviction in 2015 for possession with intent to distribute heroin. This crime led to a three-and-a-half-year imprisonment sentence.
In early 2020, Tejeda-Arias reentered the U.S. through Texas and was later arrested on October 6, 2022, by agents with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General in Harrisburg for significant drug trafficking activities involving heroin/fentanyl. His second drug trafficking conviction resulted in a two-and-a-half to five-year imprisonment sentence.
On April 24, 2025, Tejeda-Arias pleaded guilty to federal charges of illegal reentry. Judge Munley ordered his federal sentence to run consecutively with his state drug trafficking sentence. After serving these sentences, he will be deported back to the Dominican Republic.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, which aims to combat illegal immigration and transnational criminal organizations while protecting communities from violent crime perpetrators. The investigation involved Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations. Assistant United States Attorney Michael Scalera and Acting United States Attorney John Gurganus prosecuted this case.
