Jason R. Coody, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida
United States Attorney John P. Heekin has announced that 16 individuals who were previously deported have been indicted by a federal grand jury for illegal reentry into the United States. The cases involve individuals from Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua who were located in various parts of Florida earlier this year.
The accused include Jose Victor Aguilar-Zelaya, 40, from Honduras, found in Fort Walton Beach; Oscar Alva-Cabrera, 23, from Mexico, located in Gulf Breeze; Ofelia Andrea Caal-Chub, 22, from Guatemala, discovered in Madison County; and Bernardo Chavez-Chavez, 46, from Mexico, found in Tallahassee. Other individuals charged are Joel Coto-Mendoza and Luis Armando Funez-Gomez from Honduras; Roberto Gonzales-Coto also from Honduras; Candido Hurtado-Solano and Juan Hurtado-Solano from Mexico; Omar Jimenez-Salinas and Jose Luis Morales-Huerta also from Mexico; Cevero Enrique Ordonez and Maximo Solis-Xec from Guatemala; Juan Gomez Perez and Elpidio Abelardo Perez-Perez both from Mexico; and Juan Carlos Hernandez Vallejos from Nicaragua.
The penalty for illegally reentering the United States after deportation can be up to two years in prison along with a $250,000 fine.
The investigations are being conducted by several agencies including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), among others. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Jessica Etherton, Harley Ferguson, Alicia Forbes, Justin Keen, Walter Narramore, and Eric Welch.
"An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt," stated the release. "All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial."
These indictments are part of Operation Take Back America which aims to combat illegal immigration and related crimes through coordinated efforts across various departments.
For more information about these cases or access to public court documents online visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website or the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida website.
