Rebecca C. Lutzko United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio
Federal grand juries in Cleveland and Toledo charged twelve individuals from Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico with violating immigration laws on Mar. 30. The indictments allege that the defendants illegally reentered the United States after being previously removed, without permission from the U.S. Attorney General or Secretary for Homeland Security.
The cases involve separate incidents across multiple counties in Northern Ohio. The defendants were found in locations including Fremont, Elyria, Norwalk, Oregon (Ohio), Sandusky, Akron, and other areas between January and March of this year. Each individual had previously been deported from the United States at least once; some had been removed on multiple occasions dating back as far as 2003.
The investigations leading to these indictments were conducted by U.S. Border Patrol-Sandusky Bay Station and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Assistant United States Attorneys Ava Rotell Dustin, Matthew D. Simko, Frank H. Spryszak, Jennifer King, and Brett S. Hammond are prosecuting these cases for the Northern District of Ohio.
Authorities emphasized that an indictment is only an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
These prosecutions fall under Operation Take Back America—a national initiative aimed at addressing illegal immigration by using Department of Justice resources to counter cartels and transnational criminal organizations while protecting communities from violent crime.
