Gulfport, Miss. - Benjamin Sanchez-Perez, 28, an illegal alien from Mexico, pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr., 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 (HSI) in New Orleans, and Gregory K. Bovino, Chief Patrol Agent of the Border Patrol’s New Orleans Sector.
Sanchez-Perez will be sentenced by Judge Guirola on Jan. 28, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. He faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine, as well as Department of Homeland Security removal proceedings.
On Sept. 12, 2019, an agent with the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department Interdiction Unit conducted a traffic stop on Interstate 10. Indicators of illegal alien smuggling were detected and a Border Patrol Agent was called to assist. Agents made contact with the driver of the vehicle and the front seat passenger, who was the driver’s husband. Among the passengers in the vehicle were three men, including Sanchez-Perez, who were determined to be illegal aliens to the United States who had returned after being formally removed. All vehicle occupants were transported to the Border Patrol Station in Gulfport, for further processing and investigation.
An HSI Special Agent and an HSI Task Force Agent arrived at the station to assist with the investigation. Sanchez-Perez was determined to have entered the United States through Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, about four days before his arrest in Mississippi. Further investigation revealed that Sanchez-Perez had been previously removed from the United States on March 28, 2019, through Miami, Florida. At the time of his removal, Sanchez-Perez was prohibited from entering, attempting to enter, being in the United States, or applying for admission to the United States, for at least five years.
U.S. Attorney Hurst praised the cooperation exhibited by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Border Patrol, and the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris is the prosecutor for the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
