SHREVEPORT, La. - United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Mexican national pleaded guilty Monday to re-entering the United States after removal as an aggravated felon.
Jose Juan Rodriguez-Guarda, 32, of Mexico, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to one count of re-entry of a removed alien. According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Rodriguez-Guarda had illegally re-entered the United States multiple times since 2009 after being removed. In June 2012, Rodriguez-Guarda was removed as an aggravated felon from the United States after being convicted of attempted human smuggling in Arizona.
Rodriguez-Guarda was arrested in Virginia on Jan. 25, 2013, two days after he had kidnapped his girlfriend at knife point in Bossier Parish and took her to Virginia where he already had their 7-year-old daughter. The defendant pleaded guilty to simple kidnapping in Bossier Parish District Court on June 22, 2015.
Rodriguez-Guarda faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, one to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date of Feb. 19, 2016 was set.
Homeland Security Investigations-Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Bossier City Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael O’Mara is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
