Cosme Marin-Ponce, a 41-year-old Mexican national, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Jennifer P. Wilson for illegal reentry into the United States by a previously deported alien and failure to register as a sex offender.
According to Acting United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, Marin-Ponce had been removed from the United States in 2019 after a guilty plea for the indecent assault of a person less than 13 years old. He was subsequently found in the United States without having obtained legal permission to reenter the country, and he also failed to fulfill his legal obligation to register as a sex offender, linked to his prior conviction.
The case falls under Operation Take Back America, a national effort that uses resources from the Department of Justice to tackle illegal immigration, dismantle cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect communities from violent crime. This operation is linked with Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
The investigation of the matter was handled by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations, as well as the United States Marshals Service. The prosecution was led by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Scalera.
