A Mexican national, Luis Alberto Vega-Lili, has been sentenced to time served of 121 days in prison and will be handed over to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol upon release. This information was disclosed by U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme.
Vega-Lili, aged 57, entered a guilty plea in May 2025 for one count of use or possession of a fraudulent immigration document. Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided over the case.
According to court documents, Vega-Lili was discovered on a train in Havre on March 11, 2025. He admitted his Mexican citizenship to a Border Patrol agent and acknowledged lacking the necessary immigration documentation for legal entry or residence in the United States. He presented a Mexican passport issued in North Carolina. In 2008, he had submitted an incomplete naturalization application due to his marriage to a U.S. citizen who later passed away.
During a secondary security search of Vega-Lili's cell, agents discovered fraudulent documents concealed in his boot: a social security card and a permanent resident card with details pertaining to an Indian individual born in 1973 residing in Texas.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office following an investigation by the U.S. Border Patrol.
This prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America, which mobilizes Department of Justice resources against illegal immigration and transnational criminal organizations while aiming to protect communities from violent crime perpetrators.
