Mexican National Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Reentering U.S.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOSE GUADALUPE CASTILLO LARA, also known as Jose Castillo, Jose Latta, Francisco Rodriguez, and Jose Ruiz, 41, a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to seven months of imprisonment for illegally reentering the United States after being deported.

According to court documents, Castillo previously was deported from the U.S. to Mexico in April 2009 following a felony conviction in Texas for assault.  He reentered the U.S. shortly thereafter and was encountered by law enforcement in Texas.  On July 13, 2009, he was sentenced to two years of imprisonment for violating the terms of his probation from his assault conviction.  He was again removed to Mexico in June 2010.

On November 17, 2018, Castillo was arrested by Stamford Police.  On March 6, 2019, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment charging him with reentry of a removed alien.  On March 7, 2019, Castillo was convicted in state court of disorderly conduct related to his November 2018 arrest, and he was released from state custody.  He remained at large until March 17, 2023, when he was apprehended in Massachusetts.

On May 9, 2023, he pleaded guilty to reentry of a removed alien.

This matter was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Casey.