Gulfport, Miss. - Andres Barrientos-Flores, 33, an illegal alien from El Salvador, pled guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden to unlawful return of an alien after removal, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst, Jere T. Miles, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans, and Gregory K. Bovino, Chief Patrol Agent of the Border Patrol’s New Orleans Sector.
Barrientos-Flores is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday, September 5, 2019, at 9:00 a.m., by Judge Ozerden. He faces a potential two years in federal prison followed by one year of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and Department of Homeland Security removal proceedings.
On March 26, 2019, on Interstate-10, in Jackson County, an agent of the South Mississippi Metro Enforcement Team observed a 2019 white GMC Yukon traveling in the far-left passing lane below the posted speed limit and impeding the flow of traffic. The agent initiated a traffic stop on the SUV, which was bearing Maryland license plates. Later, a U.S. Border Patrol Agent arrived on the scene to assist and made contact with the driver and identified Barrientos-Flores as a passenger in the SUV. Both men were later transported to the U.S. Border Patrol station in Gulfport for further processing and investigation.
Barrientos-Flores was positively identified by a computer scan of his fingerprints into a Homeland Security Database that automatically accessed his official immigration records. He was determined to have unlawfully returned to the United States after having been previously removed on Aug. 24, 2018. He was prohibited from entering, attempting to enter, being in the United States, or applying for admission, for a period of 10 years.
U.S. Attorney Hurst praised the cooperation exhibited by the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, the South Mississippi Metro Enforcement Team, and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney Stan Harris is the prosecutor for the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
