The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on August 3, 2011, before Senior U.S. District Judge Jack D. Shanstrom, GIOVANNI CARLOS PONCIANO, a 49-year-old citizen of Guatemala, appeared for sentencing. PONCIANO was sentenced to a term of:

Prison: 24 months

Special Assessment: $100

Supervised Release: 3 years

PONCIANO was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to illegal re-entry.

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

On September 2, 2009, a Montana Highway Patrol trooper arrested PONCIANO for driving under the influence near Glendive. While being booked, it was discovered that PONCIANO was an illegal alien from Guatemala.

A fingerprint comparison revealed that PONCIANO had been previously deported on July 21, 2005, from Houston, Texas under the name of Francis Javier Mena for a felony conviction for forgery from Connecticut.

A further review of immigration records checks found no evidence that PONCIANO had received permission from the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security to reenter the United States after having been removed.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that PONCIANO will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, PONCIANO 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 conducted by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.

 

 

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