Guatemalan Man Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Reentering the United States After Being Deported Three Times

The following press release was published by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys on Jan. 26. It is reproduced in full below.

Has Prior Felony Conviction for Operating While Intoxicated, Second Offense

A man who illegally returned to the United States after being deported three times was sentenced today to ten months in federal prison.

Juan Ramirez-Morales, age 37, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a guilty plea on Sept. 27, 2021, to one count of illegal reentry into the United States after having been deported.

At the guilty plea, Ramirez-Morales admitted he had previously been deported from the United States and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government. Ramirez-Morales was deported in December 2012, April 2013, and October 2013. Ramirez-Morales’ second deportation occurred following his conviction in January 2013 in the Southern District of Texas for Illegal Entry into the United States. Ramirez-Morales was convicted in the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County of Operating While Intoxicated, second offense, a felony, in 2011. He was also convicted in Black Hawk County of Operating While Intoxicated for offenses occurring in 2005 and 2006, and for Operating a Motorboat While Intoxicated in 2019.

Ramirez-Morales was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Ramirez-Morales was sentenced to ten months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Ramirez-Morales is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 21-CR-2049.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys