CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE - Douglas Mejia-Romero, of Honduras, pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the United States after having been previously deported to Honduras, announced United States Attorney Emily Gray Rice.
On June 11, 2015, Douglas Mejia-Romero appeared at a Manchester office of the New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and attempted to obtain a New Hampshire driver’s license. Mejia-Romero applied for the license using a false identity and possessed documents that purported to be a birth certificate establishing his birth in Puerto Rico, a certified driving record from the Department of Transportation in Puerto Rico, a driver’s license issued in Puerto Rico and a social security card issued in the name of the false identity. A New Hampshire State Trooper began questioning Mejia-Romero about the documents and sought the assistance of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations officers.
Two ICE-ERO officers responded to the DMV office and identified themselves to Mejia-Romero. The officers advised Mejia-Romero that they would be taking his fingerprints and would soon find out his true identity. At that time, the defendant admitted to the officers that his true name was Douglas Mejia, that he had been previously deported and that he had no documents allowing him to legally be in the United States. Subsequent fingerprint tests and investigation confirmed that the defendant was, in fact, Douglas Mejia-Romero from Honduras, and that he had been previously deported from Texas and from Florida to Honduras.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 1, 2016. Mejia-Romero will again be deported after serving his sentence.
The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security and the New Hampshire State Police and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alfred Rubega.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
