Eli Torres-Banos, a 37-year-old Mexican citizen, received a 51-month federal prison sentence on cocaine trafficking charges. Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson delivered the sentence following Torres-Banos's guilty plea on January 14, 2025.
Torres-Banos was indicted in late November 2023 for illegal reentry into the United States after deportation. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials apprehended him in Ixonia, Wisconsin, on December 6, 2023, after locating him near a vehicle which led to the discovery of cocaine. During a phone call to a person identified as his wife, overheard by an ICE agent, Torres-Banos mentioned that drugs were stored in a vehicle trunk. Investigation by Jefferson County Drug Task Force revealed approximately 8 ½ kilograms of cocaine in the blue Ford Explorer associated with Torres-Banos.
In a previous ruling dated June 4, 2024, Judge Peterson sentenced Torres-Banos to a 12-month federal prison term for the illegal reentry conviction.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Peterson remarked on the seriousness of the drug crime, emphasizing the substantial quantity of cocaine and its connection to his other criminal activities. Judge Peterson acknowledged Torres-Banos's criminal history as a significant factor in the sentencing but also took into consideration the time already served for the reentry offense.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, ICE, Jefferson County Drug Task Force, and the Watertown Police Department were involved in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven P. Anderson and Steven C. Ayala prosecuted the case.
