Gulfport, Miss. - Flavio Hilario Perez-Hernandez, 28, and Amilcar Tomas-Aguilar, 28, both illegal aliens from Guatemala, have pled guilty and have been sentenced for unlawful reentry after deportation or removal, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst.
Perez-Hernandez pled guilty today before Senior U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr., and was sentenced to “time served" (effectively 4 months and 19 days). Tomas-Aguilar pled guilty on June 24, 2020 before U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden and was also sentenced to “time served" (effectively 4 months and 5 days). The defendants were also sentenced to one year of supervised release. The Department of Homeland Security will institute removal proceedings to remove them back to their home nation of Guatemala. If either of the two men were to unlawfully return again to the United States, during their term of supervised release, the offender could face a separate penalty consecutive to imprisonment from additional prosecution. As a result of this felony conviction, if Perez-Hernandez or Tomas-Aguilar were to unlawfully return again to the United States, they could face up to ten years in federal prison.
On Feb. 20, 2020, a U.S. Border Patrol Agent assigned to the New Orleans Sector’s Gulfport Station, encountered Flavio Hilario Perez-Hernandez during a vehicle stop on Interstate 10 near Biloxi. Additionally, two passengers were in the vehicle, one of whom was Amilcar Tomas-Aguilar. All vehicle occupants were determined to be in the United States unlawfully, and were arrested and transported to the Gulfport Border Patrol Station for processing.
Further investigation revealed that both Perez-Hernandez and Tomas-Aguilar had returned to the United States after having been previously deported.
U.S. Attorney Hurst praised the investigation and interdiction of the Department of Homeland Security, and the United States Border Patrol. Assistant United States Attorney Stan Harris was the prosecutor for the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
