Three Deported Men Back Behind Bars for Illegal Return

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Three men, already banished from the United States, learned this week that a return trip comes with a price. United States Attorney David Metcalf announced the sentencing of Hernan Molina-Perez, Oscar Navas-Rixtun, and Pedro Jimenez-Georges, all convicted of the federal crime of illegally reentering the country after being previously deported.

Hernan Molina-Perez, 33, a Honduran national, received a sentence of time served – roughly three months – from United States District Judge Chad F. Kenney. The sentence isn’t about justice, it’s about logistics. Molina-Perez will once again be deported, after initially being kicked out in October 2007 following a U.S. Border Patrol arrest and a removal order. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) caught wind of his return last December, after an arrest by the Philadelphia Police Department. ICE took him into custody in April, and he pleaded guilty in May.

Oscar Navas-Rixtun, 37, of Guatemala, fared slightly worse. Judge Wendy Beetlestone sentenced him to four months in prison for the same offense. Like Molina-Perez, Navas-Rixtun will be deported after serving his time. He was previously deported in February 2020, also by the U.S. Border Patrol. This time, ICE found him in the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia, facing arson and related charges. They took him into custody in March, and he pleaded guilty in May.

Pedro Jimenez-Georges, 40, also known as Edwin Quezada Jimenez and Jose Quezada, a Dominican national, received a time-served sentence of approximately three months from Judge Juan R. Sánchez. He, too, faces immediate deportation. Jimenez-Georges was initially deported in October 2018, following a failure to appear at a 2008 immigration hearing in Texas. ICE tracked him down in Philadelphia this March, verifying his identity and location before making the arrest. He pleaded guilty in May.

These cases aren’t isolated incidents. They are part of “Operation Take Back America,” a sweeping federal initiative aimed at aggressively tackling illegal immigration and dismantling transnational criminal organizations. The operation leverages resources from the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods, signaling a hard-line stance on border security and criminal activity.

The investigations were handled by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, with Assistant United States Attorneys Judy Smith, Robert Eckert, and Lindsey Mills prosecuting the cases. While the sentences for Molina-Perez and Jimenez-Georges were relatively lenient, the repeated cycle of deportation and illegal reentry highlights the challenges and costs associated with enforcing immigration laws. These men are simply pawns in a larger game, and the real players remain in the shadows.

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