Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Billings, on November 10, 2009, before Senior U.S. District Judge Jack D. Shanstrom, MARTIN DOMINGUEZ-ESTRADA, a 21-year-old citizen of Mexico, appeared for sentencing. DOMINGUEZ-ESTRADA was sentenced to a term of:

• Prison: 41 months

• Special Assessment: $100

• Supervised Release: 3 years

DOMINGUEZ-ESTRADA was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien.

In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Seykora, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On May 20, 2009, law enforcement officers responded to a residence in Billings after receiving information that an individual at the residence was possibly a foreign-born national with no legal immigration documents.

At the residence officers encountered DOMINGUEZ-ESTRADA, who admitted that he was a citizen of Mexico with no legal documents allowing him to be in the United States. DOMINGUEZ-ESTRADA also admitted that he had been deported approximately 12 years ago.

A review of immigration records confirmed that DOMINGUEZ-ESTRADA had been previously removed from the United States on April 21, 2002, at El Paso, Texas. Further review revealed no evidence that DOMINGUEZ-ESTRADA had received permission from the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security to reenter the United States after being removed.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that DOMINGUEZ-ESTRADA will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, DOMINGUEZ-ESTRADA does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

 

 

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