United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly living in the United States illegally after previously being deported to Mexico twice.
Abraham Cortez-Morales, age 25, was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 19, 2013 for Illegal Reentry after Deportation.
Cortez-Morales appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy on April 12, 2013 and pled not guilty to the indictment. The maximum penalty upon conviction is 2 years of imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
The charge is merely an accusation and Cortez-Morales is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Kelderman is prosecuting the case.
Cortez-Morales was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal. A trial date has been set for June 18, 2013.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
