Crescencio Diaz-Diaz, Illegal Reentry and Fraud, Florida 2024

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Crescencio Diaz-Diaz, 36, and Marcelo Perez-Santiz, 33, both of Mexico, have been charged with immigration-related crimes in federal court. Diaz-Diaz has been charged with illegal reentry of a removed alien and possession and use of fraudulent employment authorization documents.

According to court documents, Crescencio Diaz-Diaz reentered the United States illegally after being previously deported in 2020. He was encountered by federal agents during the execution of federal criminal search warrants at a Navarre business, Emerald Coast Lawns, and an adjacent residence on [date]. During the search, agents seized a fraudulent permanent resident card and social security card bearing Diaz-Diaz’s name and/or photograph but another person’s identifying information, which Diaz-Diaz allegedly admitted he presented to Emerald Coast Lawns in order to gain employment.

Separate court documents allege that Marcelo Perez-Santiz reentered the United States illegally after being previously deported on three separate occasions in 2012. Perez-Santiz was found at the business address for Emerald Coast Lawns back in February and was arrested on a criminal complaint on [date].

The penalty for illegally reentering the United States after deportation is a maximum of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The cases are being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Florida Highway Patrol, United States Marshals Service, and the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alicia H. Forbes.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation by a sworn affiant that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to due process, to include a fair trial, during which it is the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General.

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