Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York | Department of Justice
Juan Carlos Padilla Santos was sentenced to 100 months in prison for illegally re-entering the United States after having been deported twice and being subject to a third removal order. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick.
According to prosecutors, Padilla Santos made false statements to immigration authorities and on a green card replacement form he submitted during his most recent illegal entry.
“Juan Carlos Padilla Santos was previously deported after he committed multiple serious drug offenses in the U.S.,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Like so many, Santos then deceitfully and illegally exploited our immigration system. Dangerous felons who return to this country illegally after being deported will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We thank the women and men of Homeland Security Investigations for their commitment to these matters.”
HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel commented on Padilla Santos’s repeated violations: “Juan Carlos Padilla Santos exhibited time and time again his disregard for our immigration laws needed for public safety,” said Patel. “With a history that includes murder, narcotics possession, and even apparently faking his own death, this defendant took repeated steps to illegally enter and re-enter the United States. Padilla Santos now faces a significant sentence for his actions.”
Court documents show that Padilla Santos was first deported from the U.S. in 2010 following a conviction for conspiring to distribute narcotics, which resulted in nearly seven and a half years of imprisonment. Less than a year after his initial deportation, he returned illegally and was ordered removed again in absentia.
In 2016, authorities say Padilla Santos was convicted of murder in the Dominican Republic and sentenced to 15 years there but instead returned once more to the U.S., where he was convicted of cocaine possession and bail jumping in 2018 before being deported again.
Prosecutors allege that in 2019, he falsified reports of his death in the Dominican Republic before re-entering the U.S. illegally for a third time in 2021. During this period, he falsely claimed lawful permanent resident status with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and submitted a green card replacement form stating under penalty of perjury that he had never been deported or ordered removed.
In addition to serving over eight years in prison, Padilla Santos will be subject to three years of supervised release upon completion of his sentence.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton acknowledged the investigative work done by HSI New York as well as assistance from Enforcement and Removal Operations’ Criminal Prosecutions Unit, USCIS Office of Fraud Detection and National Security, and HSI Santo Domingo International Operations.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Cheng from the General Crimes Unit.
