A Honduran citizen, Wilmer Orlando Canelas-Najera, 44, has pleaded guilty to immigration-related charges in Buffalo, New York. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo. Canelas-Najera admitted to illegal reentry into the United States and actions intended to prevent his departure from the country. Following his plea before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo, he was sentenced to time served and handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Bonanno explained that Canelas-Najera lacks legal status in the United States. He is a national of Honduras who was ordered removed from the U.S. in 1997 but did not attend his immigration hearing at that time. He was apprehended and deported in March 2017 but returned illegally and was again ordered removed after being caught in September 2017.
On April 1, 2025, at around 8:15 p.m., Border Patrol agents found Canelas-Najera near a hotel on Millersport Highway in Amherst, NY. Upon identification attempts by the agents using his first name "Wilmer," he fled across multiple lanes of traffic causing vehicles to brake suddenly. Although an agent pursued him across the highway, Canelas-Najera managed to escape initially.
Later that night at approximately 1:30 a.m., agents spotted him again near the same hotel where they eventually located him on the fifth floor hallway inside the building. When approached by an agent who identified himself, Canelas-Najera resisted by pushing away and retreating into a hotel room which he locked behind him.
By noon on April 2nd, hotel staff unlocked the door allowing Border Patrol agents to apprehend him successfully.
This case falls under Operation Take Back America—an initiative led by the Department of Justice aimed at addressing illegal immigration while combating cartels along with transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) thereby enhancing community safety against violent crime perpetrators.
The investigation leading up to this plea deal involved efforts from U.S Border Patrol under guidance provided by Patrol Agent-in-Charge Martin B Coombs.
