United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Marvin Enrique Pena-Portillo, a 38-year-old Honduran national residing unlawfully in Philadelphia, has pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon. The plea was entered before United States District Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg.
Pena-Portillo was arrested in April on a criminal complaint and warrant and later charged by information in June. Court filings reveal that on April 15, 2025, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents apprehended him for immigration violations, he had a loaded 9mm semiautomatic pistol in his waistband.
In August 2024, Pena-Portillo had pleaded guilty in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to carrying an illegal firearm in public and received a sentence of two years probation.
Sentencing is scheduled for October 22.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, an initiative aimed at combating illegal immigration and transnational criminal organizations while protecting communities from violent crime. It involves resources from the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).
The investigation was conducted by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations along with the ATF. Assistant United States Attorney Robert Eckert is prosecuting the case.
