A Dominican national who unlawfully resided in Dorchester, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty on July 16 in federal court in Boston to illegally reentering the United States after being deported three times. Wilson Radhames Peguero Brea, also known as Jose Perez Antonio, age 57, admitted to one count of unlawful reentry of a deported alien with a prior felony conviction. U.S. District Court Judge Myong J. Joun scheduled sentencing for September 16. Peguero is currently held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
According to charging documents, Peguero has entered the United States illegally at least four times and used several aliases, including those belonging to U.S. citizen victims. In 1997, under an alias linked to a U.S. citizen victim, he was convicted of drug trafficking and removed from the country in 2005 before returning unlawfully again. In 2016, he was arrested and charged by state authorities with possessing a fraudulently obtained driver’s license; that case remains unresolved while he was removed from the country for a second time that year.
After his third illegal entry into the United States, Peguero faced charges in Dorchester District Court for trafficking cocaine and fentanyl—a criminal case still listed as warrant status—and these offenses are associated with his alias Jose Perez Antonio, according to court records. In 2021, using his true name, Peguero was arrested and charged federally with aggravated identity theft and wire fraud; he was convicted on January 11, 2023, and sentenced to more than two years in prison before being removed from the country again later that year.
Peguero then returned illegally for a fourth time and was encountered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on February 5 while using false identity documents. The charge of illegal reentry by an alien with a prior aggravated felony conviction carries up to twenty years imprisonment, three years supervised release, and up to $250,000 fine; sentencing will be determined based on federal guidelines.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley said, “United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and David T. Wesling, Acting Field Office Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in Boston made the announcement today.” Assistant U.S. Attorney Julissa Walsh of the Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting this case.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts serves all residents across Massachusetts through prosecutions involving crimes such as national security threats or civil rights violations; it employs over two hundred attorneys along with paralegals and professional staff at facilities located at John Joseph Moakley United States Federal Courthouse as well as branch offices in Springfield and Worcester—all operating under its role within the Department of Justice advancing community initiatives like civil rights protections—according to its official website.