Belmond, Iowa – A Honduran national, Jorge Matute-Banegas, has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for his brazen illegal reentry into the United States after three prior deportations. The 28-year-old resident of Belmond pleaded guilty on February 6, 2019, to charges of illegal reentry following an aggravated felony conviction.
Matute-Banegas’ criminal history includes a June 2011 deportation and subsequent illegal return, followed by two more expulsions in April 2013 and October 2014. He was apprehended by immigration agents in December 2018 after being charged with driving without a license in Wright County, Iowa.
Before his latest transgression, Matute-Banegas had been convicted of possession of marijuana for sale, an aggravated felony, in Pinal County, Arizona, in July 2012. He also faced charges in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas in October 2014 for illegal reentry after a previous felony conviction.
The sentence was handed down by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In addition to his prison term, Matute-Banegas must serve a three-year supervised release upon his release from custody. The federal system offers no parole option.
Matute-Banegas is currently being held in the United States Marshal’s custody pending transportation to a federal penal facility. Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt prosecuted the case, while the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted the investigation.
Court records for this case are available online at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 19-CR-3002. Follow the United States Attorney’s Office Northern District of Iowa on Twitter @USAO_NDIA for updates.
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Key Facts
- State: Iowa
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime|Sex Crimes|Cybercrime|Public Corruption|Weapons|Human Trafficking|White Collar Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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