United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa

03/05/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/05/2021 12:29

Honduran Man Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Reentering the United States After Being Deported Two Times

A man who illegally returned to the United States after being deported was sentenced today to three months in federal prison.

Adony Benitez-Ramires, age 34, a citizen of Honduras illegally present in the United States and residing in Marion, Iowa, received the prison term after a guilty plea on January 13, 2021, to one count of illegal reentry into the United States.

At the guilty plea, Benitez-Ramires admitted he had previously been deported from the United States and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government. Benitez-Ramires was deported in September 2012 and June 2018. Benitez-Ramires was convicted in a Texas federal court in May 2018 of illegal entry into the United States, a misdemeanor. Benitez-Ramires most recently came to the attention of immigration agents following an arrest in Linn County, Iowa, on state charges in November 2020.

Benitez-Ramires was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Benitez-Ramires was sentenced to 89 days' imprisonment. He must also serve a one-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Benitez-Ramires is being held in the United States Marshal's custody until he can be turned over to immigration officials.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by 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 20-CR-99.

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