Jesus Mendoza Cortes, Unlawfully Reentering the United States, Missouri 2025

A Mexican National illegally residing in Sedalia, Mo., has been sentenced in federal court for unlawful reentry after deportation.

Jesus Mendoza Cortes, 35, was sentenced by United States District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 14 months in federal prison without parole followed by one year of supervised release.

Cortes pleaded guilty to unlawfully re-entering the United States after previously being removed. He was previously deported from the United States and had unlawfully re-entered the United States without obtaining the consent of the Attorney General and/or the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to reapply for admission into the United States.

Under federal law it is illegal for an alien to knowingly re-enter the United States without permission after being removed. Cortes had previously been removed from the country on eleven different occasions dating back to 2006.

He unlawfully returned sometime in 2018 and was found in the Western District of Missouri after being arrested on June 1, 2024 by the Pettis County Sheriff’s Office for unlawful use of a weapon, assault in the second degree and armed criminal action.

Cortes was subsequently charged in Pettis County, Missouri for those acts and the charges remain pending.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cecily L. Hicks. It was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.

Operation Take Back America is a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the government 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.

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