Deported Sex Offender Back Behind Bars

⏱ 3 min read

Fort Myers, FL – Arturo Sanchez-Morales, 54, is headed back to prison after a three-year sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell. The Mexican national illegally slipped back into the U.S. despite a prior deportation and a disturbing criminal history revealed during the case. He pled guilty on January 9, 2026, to the charge of illegal reentry.

The Cape Coral Police Department pulled Sanchez-Morales over during a routine traffic stop on May 13, 2025. He had a Mexican birth certificate, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement quickly flagged him as someone they’d seen before – a previously deported alien. The system connected him to a file and revealed a deeply troubling past.

Court records show Sanchez-Morales was convicted in a California court back in July 2014 of incest and a lewd or lascivious act involving a child. That conviction is what ultimately led to his initial deportation. This wasn’t his first attempt to circumvent the system either, records show he previously voluntarily returned after an earlier deportation.

Federal prosecutor Benjamin S. Winter handled the case, spearheaded by U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe, as part of the Department of Justice’s “Operation Take Back America” – a broad initiative targeting illegal immigration and transnational crime. ICE investigated.