Rigoberto Buox, Illegal Reentry, Pennsylvania 2024

Grimy Times

PHILADELPHIA – A Guatemalan national, Rigoberto Buox, 44, was sentenced to time served, almost three months, for illegal reentry into the United States. Buox, who had been previously removed from the country in September 2016, was arrested by the Phoenixville (Pa.) Police Department on an assault charge in August last year. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers took the defendant into custody in April and charged him with illegal reentry in May. He pleaded guilty this week, waiving prosecution by indictment.

Buox’s case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that aims to repel the invasion of illegal immigration and protect communities from violent crime. The case was investigated by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly Lewis Fallenstein, S. Chandler Harris, and Rebecca Kulik.

This is not an isolated incident. Two other foreign nationals, Kevin Portillo-Urquia and Wagner De Leon-Morales, have also been sentenced for the same crime. Portillo-Urquia, a Honduran national, 32, was sentenced to time served, approximately three and a half months, for illegal reentry. De Leon-Morales, a Mexican national, 46, was also sentenced to time served, almost three months, for the same crime.

Portillo-Urquia had previously been removed from the United States in July 2012, while De Leon-Morales was encountered by the U.S. Border Patrol after illegally crossing the border and was removed back to Mexico in August 2008. Both defendants were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and charged with illegal reentry. They pleaded guilty and waived prosecution by indictment.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has praised the efforts of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for their work in investigating and prosecuting these cases.

The Operation Take Back America initiative will continue to focus on targeting and dismantling transnational criminal organizations and cartels that facilitate illegal immigration and violent crime.

Grimy Times

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