Robert J. "Bob" Troester U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma
Jose Paxtor-Oxlaj, a 45-year-old Guatemalan national, has been sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for illegally reentering the United States after deportation. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.
On November 21, 2023, Paxtor-Oxlaj was involved in a vehicle crash near Elk City, Oklahoma. The accident resulted in the deaths of six passengers, including three children, and left another passenger critically injured. Authorities from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) determined that Paxtor-Oxlaj had previously been ordered removed from the United States on June 29, 2010, and was deported to Guatemala on July 9 of that year. Investigators found that he returned to the United States in 2011 without legal permission.
A federal Grand Jury indicted Paxtor-Oxlaj for illegal reentry after previous deportation on September 17, 2024. He pleaded guilty on March 21, 2025, admitting he was knowingly present in the country without consent from either the Attorney General or Secretary of Homeland Security.
In Beckham County District Court case CF-2023-257, Paxtor-Oxlaj was convicted of six counts of first-degree manslaughter and one count of causing an accident with great bodily injury while lacking a valid driver’s license. He received a four-year state prison sentence for those offenses.
At his sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Patrick R. Wyrick, it was ordered that Paxtor-Oxlaj serve his federal sentence consecutively to his state sentence in Beckham County. Judge Wyrick stated: "the defendant preyed on others who were here illegally and that his conduct was reprehensible."
The investigation into this case involved HSI, ICE, and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandon Hale and Elizabeth Joynes prosecuted the case.
"This case is part of Operation Take Back America," according to officials. "Operation Take Back America [is] 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."
Further information can be found through public court filings.
