Leonardo Mendoza-Zavala, a 44-year-old citizen of Mexico, was sentenced to seven months in prison for illegal reentry into the United States. The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Jennifer P. Wilson, according to an announcement from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Acting United States Attorney John C. Gurganus stated that Mendoza-Zavala had previously been convicted in Texas for attempting to take a weapon from an officer, resisting arrest, and making terroristic threats. He was removed from the United States on January 6, 2020, through Laredo, Texas. After his removal, he reentered the country without legal permission.
On June 21, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Mendoza-Zavala in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. The arrest took place in the parking lot of a motel.
The investigation involved U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations as well as the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott R. Ford prosecuted the case.
"This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline) a nationwide initiate 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)."
