Pablo Dominguez, a 40-year-old Honduran national living illegally in Nitro, pleaded guilty on June 2 to reentry of a removed alien and was sentenced to time served. Dominguez will be subject to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer for transfer to ICE administrative custody for removal proceedings.
According to court documents and statements made in court, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant in Nitro on January 16, 2026, where they encountered Dominguez working. ICE agents confirmed that he is a citizen of Honduras who had previously been deported from the United States on August 25, 2017. He did not have identification documents permitting legal status and had not obtained consent from the Secretary of U.S. Homeland Security to reapply for admission.
Dominguez is one of six individuals indicted following the January search warrant execution at the restaurant; all were charged with working without legal status. Four other defendants pleaded guilty to fraud and misuse of visas or permits and were also sentenced to time served with ICE detainers pending. The indictments against restaurant owner Miguel Aguirre-Arello Sr., his son Miguel Angel Aguirre, and another defendant are still pending. An indictment is an allegation; all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
These cases resulted from Operation Country Roads, conducted by ICE along with state and local law enforcement partners. The operation led to over 650 arrests throughout West Virginia during January 2026.
United States Attorney Moore Capito announced the sentence and commended investigative work by federal agencies as well as local police departments involved in the case. United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin presided over the hearing, and Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan T. Storage and Jennifer D. Gordon prosecuted.