Mexican Man Sentenced to Over Four Years in Prison for Illegally Reentering the United States After Being Deported

Press Release

Returned to United States after Being Deported Six Times. Has Four Prior Convictions for Operating While Intoxicated in Iowa.

A man who illegally returned to the United States after being deported was sentenced on April 9, 2024, to more than four years in federal prison.

Sergio Sanchez-Juarez, age 37, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States and residing in Hiawatha, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 1, 2023, guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry into the United States after a prior felony conviction. Sanchez-Juarez also received a prison term for violating the conditions of supervised release imposed on his 2019 conviction in the Northern District of Iowa for illegal reentry.

At the guilty plea, Sanchez-Juarez admitted he had previously been deported from the United States and illegally reentered the country without the permission of the United States government. Sanchez-Juarez was previously deported in February 2007, July 2014, September 2017, November 2017, October 2020, and May 2021. On September 19, 2023, immigration officials learned Sanchez-Juarez had illegally returned to the United States and found Sanchez-Juarez at the Linn County Jail following his arrest on state charges. Sanchez-Juarez was previously convicted in 2019 in the Northern District of Iowa of illegally reentering the United States, served 24 months in prison, and was deported.

Sanchez-Juarez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Sanchez-Juarez was sentenced to 37 months' imprisonment on the illegal reentry conviction and 12 months' imprisonment for violating the term of supervised release imposed on the 2019 conviction in the

Northern District of Iowa. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Sanchez-Juarez is being held in the United States Marshal's custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 23-CR-68.

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Updated April 10, 2024