Guatemalan Man Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Reentering the United States

A Guatemalan man who illegally returned to the United States after being deported was sentenced today to more than two months in federal prison.

Diego Eduardo Brito-Garcia, age 24, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after a July 13, 2018, guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry into the United States.

At the guilty plea, Brito-Garcia admitted he had previously been deported from the United States in 2014 and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government in 2015.  Brito-Garcia was found by immigration agents at the Dubuque County Jail in May 2018 following Brito-Garcia’s arrest for domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury.  That matter remains pending.  Brito-Garcia also used a fraudulent Social Security card and a fraudulent permanent resident card, also known as a “green card,” when he completed an employment form on March 9, 2016, at a business in Dubuque.

Brito-Garcia was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade.  Brito-Garcia was sentenced to 67 days’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a one-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Brito-Garcia is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be turned over to immigration officials.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.      

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 18-CR-1022-LRR. 

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