Jose Jovany Cruz-Hernandez, a 41-year-old native of Honduras, pleaded guilty to illegal reentry of a removed alien and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier on July 30 in New Orleans, according to an Aug. 3 announcement from United States Attorney David I. Courcelle.
Court records show that Cruz-Hernandez had previously been removed from the United States five times: April 14, 2011; August 10, 2011; February 25, 2013; July 8, 2013; and June 1, 2015. He was found in the Eastern District of Louisiana by a United States Border Patrol agent on March 16 after reentering the country without authorization from the Attorney General or the Department of Homeland Security.
Cruz-Hernandez received a sentence of time served and has been held in federal custody since March 16.
United States Attorney Courcelle said he praised “the work of the United States Border Patrol in investigating this matter.” Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon Kippers of the General Crimes Unit is leading the prosecution.
The case is part of Operation Take Back America, described as “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.”