United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Marvin Enrique Pena-Portillo, a 38-year-old Honduran national residing unlawfully in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon. The plea was entered before United States District Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg.
Pena-Portillo was arrested in April on a criminal complaint and warrant and subsequently charged by information in June. According to court filings and the defendant's admission, he was found with a loaded 9mm semiautomatic pistol in his waistband when agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) arrested him for immigration violations on April 15, 2025.
In August 2024, Pena-Portillo had pleaded guilty to carrying an illegal firearm in public at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and received a two-year probation sentence for that offense. He is scheduled for sentencing on October 22.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, an initiative aiming to combat illegal immigration, eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect communities from violent crime. The operation involves resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).
The investigation was conducted by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations along with the ATF. Assistant United States Attorney Robert Eckert is prosecuting the case.
