A Salvadoran national pled guilty on Aug. 5 to illegally reentering the United States after multiple prior removals, according to court documents from Richmond, Virginia.
Luis Antonio Tejada-Santamaria was first arrested for illegal entry into the United States on Oct. 6, 2015. Following his conviction, he was deported on Jan. 13, 2016. Tejada-Santamaria was again arrested for illegal reentry on April 1, 2016, and removed from the country a second time on May 18, 2016.
Court records show that Tejada-Santamaria was later arrested in Chesterfield County on Nov. 2, 2024, for assault on law enforcement and obstruction; he was convicted of obstruction in Chesterfield County court.
Tejada-Santamaria is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 24 and faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison while remaining subject to his previous order of removal. The final sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge after considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The announcement came from Theophani K. Stamos, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Eric Weindorf, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations Washington D.C., following Chief U.S. District Judge M. Hannah Lauck’s acceptance of the plea agreement.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick Joseph McGorman and Angela Mastandrea are prosecuting the case as part of Operation Take Back America—a nationwide initiative focused on combating illegal immigration and transnational criminal organizations.