Gulfport, Miss. - A Honduran national pled guilty to the federal crime of unlawful return of an alien after deportation or removal.
U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca of the Southern District of Mississippi, and Jason E. Schneider, Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s New Orleans Sector, made the announcement.
According to court documents, Jose Antonio Ferrera-Funez, 32, of Honduras, was arrested on June 22, 2022, on Interstate 10 in Jackson County. A Border Patrol Agent assigned to the South Mississippi Metro Enforcement Team made a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Jose Antonio Ferrera-Funez, who did not have a driver’s license. Record checks revealed that Ferrera-Funez was an illegal alien who had been previously removed from the United States on multiple occasions.
Ferrera-Funez is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 13, 2022, and faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison, a $250,000 fine and one year of supervised release. After completing any sentence of incarceration, he also is subject to Homeland Security proceedings to remove him again from the United States. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case was investigated by the Border Patrol, the South Mississippi Metro Enforcement Team and the Jackson 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
