BOSTON - A Dominican national who previously resided in Lawrence pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to illegal reentry.
Melvin Villar, 56, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful reentry of deported alien before U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock, who scheduled sentencing for Jan. 11, 2021.
On July 23, 2019, Villar was encountered in Lawrence. Villar was previously deported on three separate occasions between 2004 and 2019. At some point after each deportation, he illegally reentered the United States.
The charge provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Todd M. Lyons, Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations; and Lawrence Police Chief Roy Vasque made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
