Hector Raul Estrada-Garcia, Illegal Re-entry, Minnesota 2024

Hector Raul Estrada-Garcia, 48, Indicted for Illegal Re-entry in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS—A federal indictment has been returned against a Guatemalan national for entering the United States illegally after being deported as a criminal.

Hector Raul Estrada-Garcia, 48, was charged with one count of illegal re-entry after deportation, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, followed by deportation.

The indictment alleges that Estrada-Garcia was found in the U.S. after having been previously deported to Guatemala in 2000, following a 1997 conviction in the District of Minnesota for distribution of methamphetamine.

Estrada-Garcia was identified in Anoka County as an illegal alien with a criminal record by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (“ICE”) St. Paul Fugitive Operations Team on March 7 of this year.

An indictment is a determination by a grand jury that there is probable cause to believe that offenses have been committed by a defendant.

It is essential to note that a defendant is presumed innocent until he or she pleads guilty or is proven guilty at trial.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John E. Kokkinen, and it is the result of an investigation by ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/man-indicted-illegal-re-entry-after-deportation