Gulfport, Miss. - Marvin Geovani Ramirez-Marroquin, 33, an illegal alien from Guatemala, pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr., to unlawful re-entry by an alien after removal, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst, Special Agent in Charge Jere T. Miles of Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans, and Joseph A. Banco Jr., Acting Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s New Orleans Sector.
On or about May 9, 2018, at approximately 11:00 p.m., a Mississippi Highway Patrol State Trooper, stopped a Dodge Avenger sedan on Interstate 10 eastbound around Mile Marker 46 in the City of D’Iberville. The State Trooper noticed signs of human smuggling activity and alerted the Department of Homeland Security Blue Lightening Operations Center. Homeland Security Officials assisted in an investigation regarding potential human smuggling.
Ramirez-Marroquin was a passenger in the vehicle and was identified as an illegal alien from Guatemala who had been previously removed from the United States. Specifically, Ramirez-Marroquin had been ordered removed by a United States Immigration Judge in April 2006, but unlawfully returned to the United States. He was discovered again by federal officials in 2017 was physically removed by air from Brownsville, Texas, to Guatemala in November 2017.
Ramirez-Marroquin is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 30, 2018. He faces a maximum penalty of 2 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Border Patrol, and the Mississippi Highway Patrol. Assistant United States Attorney Stan Harris is the prosecutor for the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
