LAKE CHARLES, La. - Illegal alien Ernesto Garcia-Flores, 39, of Mexico, pleaded guilty Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen Kay to one count of re-entry of a removed alien, U.S. Attorney David C. Joseph announced.
Garcia-Flores was arrested on November 6, 2018 in Calcasieu Parish. After an investigation into his background, law enforcement agents learned that he had been previously deported twice. He was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, El Paso Division, on Oct. 26, 2011 for re-entry of a removed alien and was deported on Jan. 27, 2012. He was also charged by criminal complaint on Feb. 3, 2013 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Laredo Division, for unlawfully entering the United States and was removed from the United States on September 5, 2013.
Garcia-Flores faces 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for each count. The court set the sentencing date for June 13, 2019.
United States Customs and Border Protection and the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney T. Forrest Phillips is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
