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

A man who illegally returned to the United States after being deported was sentenced on August 9, 2024, to more than four months in federal prison.

Edwin Junech-Pastor, age 37, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Decorah, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 10, 2024, guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry into the United States after having been deported.

In a plea agreement, Junech-Pastor admitted he had previously been deported from the United States and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government.  Junech-Pastor was previously deported in June 2008.  On March 22, 2024, immigration officials learned Junech-Pastor had illegally returned to the United States and found Junech-Pastor at the Winneshiek County Jail following his arrest on state charges. 

In the plea agreement, Junech-Pastor also admitted he used a fraudulent Social Security card and a fraudulent Permanent Resident card, also known as a “green card,” both bearing his name, to prove his authorization to work in the United States when he completed employment and tax forms in June 2019 at a business in Decorah, Iowa.  Illegal aliens are not authorized to work in the United States.  The number on the Social Security card was assigned to a United States citizen and the number on the Permanent Resident card was assigned to a Mexican male.

Junech-Pastor was previously convicted in May 2008 in the Northern District of Iowa following an immigration enforcement action in Postville, Iowa, of using fraudulent documents to unlawfully gain employment in the United States. 

Junech-Pastor was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Junech-Pastor was sentenced to 138 days’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Junech-Pastor 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 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 24-CR-2014.

Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.