PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Alvaro Morales-Ortiz, 33, a Guatemalan national, was sentenced by United States District Judge Mia Roberts Perez to 12 months and one day in prison for illegally reentering the United States after prior deportations. Upon completing his prison sentence, he will be removed from the U.S. for a third time. Morales-Ortiz had previously been removed in August 2018, following his arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) for having ignored an immigration judge’s orders to depart the country the year prior, and in November 2023, after ICE located and arrested him in Philadelphia. In September 2025, ICE learned that the defendant was back in the country and had been arrested in Delaware County — at least his third arrest while illegally in the U.S. Morales-Ortiz had been arrested by Philadelphia police in November 2016 and May 2019; both times, he failed to appear in court to answer to the charges against him. This February, Morales-Ortiz was convicted of simple assault and harassment in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas. At that time, ICE took Morales-Ortiz into federal custody on a criminal complaint and warrant. He was charged by indictment with illegal reentry the same month and pleaded guilty in April. 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 (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. The case was investigated by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Rotella.
Guatemalan National Sentenced to a Year and a Day in Prison for Illegally Reentering the United States After Two Deportations
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