Timothy T. Duax U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
A Guatemalan national residing in Waterloo, Iowa, has been sentenced to federal prison for illegally reentering the United States after being deported multiple times. Fidel Ramos-Ramos, 38, pleaded guilty on June 13, 2025, to one count of illegal reentry after removal.
During his plea hearing, Ramos-Ramos admitted that he had previously been deported from the United States in 2012, 2014, and 2017. He returned to the country without government permission in January 2024 by crossing into Texas. Authorities discovered his presence on April 18, 2025, when he was located at the Black Hawk County Jail following an arrest on a state warrant. Ramos-Ramos also has a prior conviction in the District of Arizona for illegal entry into the United States; he served a 30-day sentence before being deported again.
Ramos-Ramos was sentenced by Chief Judge C.J. Williams in Cedar Rapids to serve 98 days in federal prison. Following his release from custody, he will be subject to one year of supervised release. Federal sentences do not allow for parole.
"This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline) a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN)."
Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt prosecuted the case with support from Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations within the Department of Homeland Security.
