Hattiesburg, Miss. - Juan Gaspar-Adan, age 24, a citizen of Mexico, and Bartolo Lopez-Garcia, age 25, a citizen of Guatemala, pled guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett, to the crime of unlawful reentry by an alien after removal, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Mr. Trey Lund, Acting Field Office Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations in New Orleans.
Gaspar-Adan and Lopez-Garcia are both scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Starrett on Jan. 11, 2019 in Hattiesburg. They each face a maximum penalty of two years in prison followed by one year of supervised release and a maximum $250,000 fine. They also face being removed from the United States following the completion of any prison sentence.
Lopez-Garcia, who had previously been removed from the United States in 2012, was arrested by Hattiesburg Police on Sept. 25, 2018, for driving under the influence (DUI), and was convicted of DUI in the Hattiesburg Municipal Court. On September 8, 2018, Gaspar-Adan, who had also previously been removed from the United States in 2014, was arrested by the University of Southern Mississippi Police Department, also for DUI.
U.S. Attorney Hurst praised the cooperation exhibited by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Enforcement & Removal Operations; the University of Southern Mississippi Police Department; the City of Hattiesburg Police Department and the Forrest County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris is the prosecutor for both cases.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
