ALIEN SENTENCED TO OVER 6 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ILLEGAL RE-ENTRY AND POSSESSION OF A FRAUDULENT PERMANENT RESIDENT CARD
FRENANDO VALDEZ-LOPEZ, age 36, a resident of Mexico, was sentenced today in federal court by U. S. District Judge Lance M. Africk to over six years (78 months) imprisonment, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Africk ordered that VALDEZ-LOPEZ be placed on three (3) years of supervised release following the term of imprisonment, during which time the defendant will be under federal supervision and risks an additional term of imprisonment should he violate any terms of his supervised release.
VALDEZ-LOPEZ was found guilty by a federal jury on one count of illegal re-entry by an alien previously removed and one count of fraud and misuse of an permanent resident card after a two-day trial on April 13, 2010. Among other things, the jury heard testimony that on September 24, 2009, VALDEZ-LOPEZ, an alien, was found in the United States without the proper consent, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent after having previously been removed and deported from the United States to Mexico. The jury also heard testimony that VALDEZ-LOPEZ knowingly possessed a counterfeit permanent resident card, also known as a “green card” at the time he was encountered by the ICE agent. VALDEZ-LOPEZ’s sentence was subject to an enhancement based on a previous aggravated felony conviction in Ascension Parish, Louisiana in 2006 for aggravated assault with a firearm.
The case was investigated by U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with the assistance of U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U. S. Attorney Robert Weir and Assistant U. S. Attorney Brian Klebba.
