Tereso Contreras-contreras Sentenced in U.S. District Court
The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on August 11, 2011, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, TERESO CONTRERAS-CONTRERAS, a 33-year-old citizen of Mexico, appeared for sentencing. CONTRERAS-CONTRERAS was sentenced to a term of:
Prison: 33 months
Special Assessment: $100
Supervised Release: 3 years
CONTRERAS-CONTRERAS was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to illegal re-entry.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan M. Archer, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On March 15, 2011, CONTRERAS-CONTRERAS was encountered in Broadus by a Montana Department of Transportation officer. CONTRERAS-CONTRERAS, along with two other occupants, were headed toward North Dakota. The officer could not communicate with anyone in the vehicle so he contacted an U.S. Homeland Security Investigations agent. The agent interviewed CONTRERAS-CONTRERAS who admitted entering the United States near Lukeville, Arizona, on about January 13, 2010, without being admitted, inspected or paroled.
A review of immigration records revealed that CONTRERAS-CONTRERAS was previously removed on December 1, 2006, via San Ysidro, California. CONTRERAS-CONTRERAS is a native and citizen of Mexico and makes no claim of U.S. Citizenship and admitted that he was illegally in the United States without permission. A review of his criminal history revealed that CONTRERAS-CONTRERAS was convicted of a drug trafficking offense on December 6, 2005.
A further review of his immigration records revealed no evidence that CONTRERAS-CONTRERAS ever requested permission to apply for re-entry into the United States from the Attorney General of the United States, or his successor, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that CONTRERAS-CONTRERAS will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, CONTRERAS-CONTRERAS 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.
