Guatemalan Man Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Reentering the United States After Being Deported Four Times

A man who illegally returned to the United States after being deported four times was sentenced today to one year in federal prison.

Pedro Guzman-Matom, age 30, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 8, 2023, guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry into the United States after having been deported.

 At the guilty plea, Guzman-Matom admitted he had previously been deported from the United States and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government.  Guzman-Matom was previously deported in November 2012, March 2013, February 2017, and August 2019.  On September 18, 2023, immigration officials learned Guzman-Matom had illegally returned to the United States and found Guzman-Matom at the Dubuque County Jail following his arrest on state charges.  Guzman-Matom was previously convicted in February 2017 in the Northern District of Iowa of illegally reentering the United States, served 98 days and was deported.  He was convicted in March 2018 in the Western District of Texas of illegally reentering the United States and sentenced to 13 months in prison along with an additional 10 months for violating his Northern District of Iowa supervised release by returning to the United States without permission.

Guzman-Matom was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Guzman-Matom was sentenced to 12 months’ and one day of imprisonment.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Guzman-Matom is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by the 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 23-CR-1025.

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