U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. has sentenced Elmer Edin Chavarria-Morales, a 32-year-old Honduran national, to three years and ten months in federal prison for illegally reentering the United States after deportation. Chavarria-Morales had entered a guilty plea on August 28, 2024.

Court records reveal that Chavarria-Morales was previously convicted of rape in Indiana state court on June 26, 2018, leading to his deportation from the United States on September 21, 2018. He later reentered the country and was convicted of illegal reentry after deportation in the Southern District of Texas on February 22, 2021. Following this conviction, he was deported again on November 11, 2022.

Despite these prior deportations, Chavarria-Morales was arrested by the Daytona Beach Police Department on April 2, 2024. He was subsequently convicted of assault (domestic violence) on April 16, 2024. After his arrest, authorities discovered that he was unlawfully present in the United States.

The investigation into this case was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Diane Hu.