Honduran Man Sentenced For Illegal Reentry After Deportation

            CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE –United States Attorney Emily Gray Rice announced  today that Alex Velasquez-Avila, of Honduras, pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the United States after having been previously deported and was sentenced to time served.  Velasquez-Avila was arrested on March 3, 2016.

            In October of 2015, a Deportation Officer developed information which indicated that the defendant, Honduran national Alex Velasquez-Avila, was present in the United States after having been deported on one previous occasion.   On February 2, 2016 the Deportation Officer recognized Velasquez-Avila as he exited the Two Guys Food Market on Union Street in Manchester, New Hampshire.

            The Deportation Officer approached Velasquez-Avila and identified himself as a U.S. Immigration Officer.  A brief verbal conversation was conducted in Spanish with the defendant who confirmed that his name was Alex Velasquez-Avila and that he was illegally present in the U.S. without any immigration documents.  The defendant was then taken into ICE custody for being illegally present in the U.S. and transported to the ICE-ERO office in Manchester, New Hampshire for administrative processing.  Subsequent fingerprint analysis identified the defendant as having been previously deported. 

            The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alfred Rubega. 

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