Timothy T. Duax U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
A Mexican citizen, Gerardo Morales-Ramirez, has entered a guilty plea in a federal court in Sioux City on June 9, 2025. He was charged with being a felon found illegally re-entering the United States.
Morales-Ramirez was apprehended by Department of Homeland Security officers on February 28, 2025, in Sioux City, Iowa. It was established that he is a Mexican citizen without legal permission to be in the U.S. He had previously been deported from the country three times. Before his last removal in 2021, he had been convicted of felony operating while intoxicated for the third or subsequent offense.
Sentencing will be scheduled after the preparation of a presentence report and will take place before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Morales-Ramirez is currently held by the United States Marshals and will remain detained until sentencing. He could face up to ten years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.
This case falls under Operation Take Back America—a nationwide initiative led by the Department of Justice aiming to address illegal immigration and dismantle cartels and transnational criminal organizations while safeguarding communities from violent crime perpetrators. The operation integrates efforts from Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
