Three foreign nationals have been sentenced in Philadelphia federal court for illegally reentering the United States after prior deportations, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney David Metcalf.
Bernardino Reyes-Gutierrez, 42, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, received a 58-month prison sentence from United States District Judge Juan R. Sánchez. After completing his term, Reyes-Gutierrez will be removed from the country again. He had previously been deported in February 2016 following a drug conviction in Philadelphia County and returned to the U.S. at an unknown date. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested him in September 2023 in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, leading to his indictment for illegal reentry in October and subsequent guilty plea in April.
Aneudy Orlando Otanez, 44, also from the Dominican Republic, was sentenced by United States District Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg to time served—almost seven months—for illegal reentry. Otanez had been removed from the country in March 2022 but returned unlawfully at an unspecified time. ICE identified him in Philadelphia and took him into custody this January; he was indicted for illegal reentry the following month and pleaded guilty in July.
Vincente Perez-Morales, 24, a Mexican national, was given a sentence of time served—almost four months—by United States District Judge Joel H. Slomsky for illegally reentering after having been removed from the country in October 2019 when he was found by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Texas. In January of this year, ICE learned that Perez-Morales had been arrested by Pennsylvania State Police in Chester County; he was taken into ICE custody in May and charged with illegal reentry by information in July before pleading guilty this week.
“These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime,” said U.S. Attorney David Metcalf. “Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).”
The investigations were conducted by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations with prosecution handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert Livermore, Rosalynda Michetti, and Ashley Martin.
