Repeat Immigration Offender And Illegal Alien Pleads Guilty To Illegal Reentry

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Gerardo Ruiz-Martinez (21, Zitácuaro, Mexico) has pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the United States after having been deported. Ruiz-Martinez faces a maximum penalty of two years in federal prison.

According to court documents, Ruiz-Martinez was removed from the United States to Mexico on March 25, 2014, through Brownsville, Texas, and again on September 2, 2020, through the Miami International Airport. On May 3, 2022, deputies from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office arrested Ruiz-Martinez for a theft he committed in Tampa. Ruiz-Martinez stated that he was a citizen of Mexico and that he was in the United States illegally.

This case was investigated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection – U.S. Border Patrol, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David W.A. Chee.