United States Attorney David Metcalf has announced the sentencing of three foreign nationals for illegal reentry into the United States after previous deportations.
Rigoberto Buox, a 44-year-old Guatemalan national, was sentenced to time served, nearly three months, by United States District Judge Catherine Henry. Buox will be removed from the country again following his sentence. He was initially deported in September 2016 after an arrest by the U.S. Border Patrol. In August last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) discovered that Buox had been arrested on an assault charge by Phoenixville Police Department. ICE took him into custody in April, and he pleaded guilty to illegal reentry this week.
Kevin Portillo-Urquia, a 32-year-old Honduran national, received a sentence of time served, approximately three and a half months, from United States District Judge Timothy J. Savage. After completing his prison term, Portillo-Urquia will also be removed from the country again. He was first deported in July 2012 after being found crossing the border illegally by U.S. Border Patrol. Earlier this year, during a joint enforcement operation in Philadelphia conducted by ICE and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Portillo-Urquia was taken into custody after it was confirmed he had been previously removed for illegal entry.
Wagner De Leon-Morales, aged 46 and a Mexican national, was sentenced to almost three months of time served by Judge Henry on Monday. Following his sentence completion, he will be deported once more. De Leon-Morales was initially encountered by U.S. Border Patrol after illegally crossing the border and was deported back to Mexico in August 2008. In March this year during an ICE worksite enforcement operation in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania, he admitted to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents that he was in the country illegally.
These cases are part of “Operation Take Back America,” which aims to address illegal immigration and combat cartels and transnational criminal organizations while protecting communities from violent crime perpetrators.
The investigations were carried out by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations alongside ATF and HSI with prosecution led by Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly Lewis Fallenstein, S. Chandler Harris, and Rebecca Kulik.
