Guatemalan Man Pleads Guilty To Illegal Reentry After Deportation And Unlawful Possession Of Ammunition By A Felon And Illegal Alien

A Guatemalan man who illegally reentered the United States and unlawfully possessed ammunition pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Armando Ramiro Garcia-Arenales, age 30, from Waterloo, Iowa, was convicted of one count of illegal reentry into the United States after deportation by an aggravated felon and one count of unlawful possession of ammunition by a felon and illegal alien.

The evidence showed that on March 1, 2013, Garcia-Arenales was arrested following a traffic stop by officers of the Waterloo Police Department. A search of Garcia-Arenales’ car uncovered numerous rounds of 9 mm ammunition. Garcia-Arenales had previously been convicted in 2005 in Clayton County, Iowa, of the felony offenses of delivery of cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to deliver.

On March 13, 2013, officers from the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), determined that Garcia-Arenales had previously been deported in October 2008 and had not received permission to reenter the United States. Garcia-Arenales had been arrested in May 2008 in an immigration enforcement action at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa. He was convicted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa of use of a fraudulent alien registration card and ordered removed from the United States.

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Garcia-Arenales remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Garcia-Arenales faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment on the illegal reentry charge and 10 years’ imprisonment on the ammunition charge, a $500,000 fine, $200 in special assessments, and 6 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and was investigated by officers from the Waterloo Police Department, and the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 13-2008.