A Mexican national, Leobardo Ricardo Torres-Torres, 38, was sentenced to time served and transferred to the custody of U.S. Border Patrol after pleading guilty to illegal reentry into the United States. The sentencing took place in Great Falls with Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presiding.
Torres-Torres had previously been removed from the United States in November 2016 and did not have permission to return. According to court documents, he was found on March 24, 2025, in Havre, Montana. Border Patrol agents approached a vehicle registered to someone unlawfully present in the country at a Walmart parking lot and questioned Torres-Torres about ownership of the vehicle. He admitted ownership and said he was working construction locally, originally from Mexico, and lacked documentation permitting him to be in the United States.
Records show that Torres-Torres applied for U.S. citizenship in 2002 using a fraudulent birth certificate but withdrew his application and returned to Mexico after being discovered. In July 2009, following an arrest for driving while intoxicated in Maricopa County, Arizona, he was ordered removed from the country. The following year he was again found by Border Patrol agents in Arizona, convicted of illegal entry—a misdemeanor—sentenced to 30 days in prison, and deported.
In August 2016, Torres-Torres was located by Border Patrol agents near Naco, Arizona; he received another conviction for illegal entry and served a 75-day sentence before removal from the country once more. Upon his arrest in March 2025 in Montana, Torres-Torres told authorities that he had reentered the United States near El Paso, Texas in November 2017.
The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office with an investigation conducted by Border Patrol agents.
According to U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme: "This case is part of Operation Take Back America 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)."
