PROVIDENCE – An Ecuadorian national, previously deported from the United States in 2008, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Rhode Island on charges of illegal re-entry. This was announced by Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.
The individual, Manuel Yochuzga-Yopangue, also known as Manuel Yupangui, aged 34, came to the attention of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through an automated biometric fingerprint match. The fingerprints were entered into the National Crime Information Center in May 2025 following his arrest on state child molestation charges.
Immigration records indicate that Yochuzga-Yopangue was removed from the United States in August 2008. He is currently detained at the ACI on Rhode Island state charges. A date for his arraignment in federal court on this indictment has not yet been scheduled.
Assistant United States Attorney Paul F. Daly, Jr., is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
This case falls under Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that utilizes resources from the Department of Justice to address illegal immigration and combat transnational criminal organizations (TCOs). It aims to protect communities from violent crime perpetrators and involves efforts from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
It is important to note that a federal indictment is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
