John E. Childress Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana | U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana
Manuel Vasquez-Mongia, a 32-year-old Mexican national, has been sentenced to 13 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for illegal reentry into the United States. This sentence follows his guilty plea for the offense.
Court documents reveal that between 2011 and 2015, Vasquez-Mongia was found illegally in the U.S. on seven occasions. Each time, he was ordered removed by an immigration judge and barred from reentering for five to twenty years.
In October 2015, after a seventh illegal reentry, Vasquez-Mongia was convicted of transporting illegal aliens and served six months in federal prison before being deported again.
Nearly ten years later, on September 11, 2024, he was arrested in Indianapolis after an eighth illegal entry. This marks his fifth federal conviction related to immigration offenses.
“Vasquez-Mongia has repeatedly shown blatant disregard for the law,” stated John E. Childress, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. He emphasized the importance of continued efforts with ICE and partners to locate and remove individuals who enter the country illegally.
The case was investigated by Immigration Customs and Enforcement along with the U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge James P. Hanlon.
Acting U.S. Attorney Childress expressed gratitude towards Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Wood who prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative aimed at combating illegal immigration and transnational criminal organizations while protecting communities from violent crime perpetrators.
