A criminal illegal alien from Chile received a 30-month prison sentence after he was arrested for illegally re-entering the United States from Canada.
The man was traveling with another Chilean convicted criminal and two Chinese nationals at the time of his arrest.
Victor Manuel Fuentes-Gomez, age 68, was arrested in January 2016 after he and his group were reported to have entered New York illegally from Canada. Border Patrol agents received a tip about the illegal crossing from local residents. Fuentes-Gomez was sentenced to spend 30 months in prison for illegally re-entering the United States with subsequent deportation.
Court records obtained by Breitbart Texas revealed that Fuentes-Gomez was originally ordered to be removed from the U.S. in 1975. His records were marked as ineligible to return following a conviction for Fraud, Forgery, Possession of Burglary Tools, and Grand Larceny in the state of New York. A second order of removal was issued on October 2015. He was deported to Chile through Houston, Texas. The Chilean citizen’s crimes were carried out in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Arkansas, and Texas, according to information obtained by Breitbart Texas from U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
Fuentes-Gomez was traveling with Gloria Oliva-Gallardo, 60, who is also a citizen of Chile. She had also been deported following conviction on felony charges of burglary and theft. She also has an active arrest warrant from the State of California. Oliva-Gallardo is also being prosecuted for illegal re-entry after removal. She has been deported four times. She was also prosecuted for illegal re-entry after removal. Her sentencing hearing is set for October 11, 2016 at which time the U.S. Attorney’s Office will ask for a 33- to 41-month sentence, according to spokesman Michael Barnett with the Northern District of New York.
Oliva-Gallardo’s criminal history includes eight felony convictions, two misdemeanor convictions, and seven other arrests. The convictions occurred in Nevada and California, court records revealed. She was deported four times. “It is obvious that she has no intention of ever remaining outside the United States,” prosecutors wrote in the sentencing memorandum.
The cases against the Chilean nationals are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Grogan in the Northern District of New York. The U.S. Attorney for that district is Richard S. Hartunian. The cases were investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol, with the assistance of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police Department.
The couple were found in New York’s St. Regis Mohawk Tribal area where police detained them for Border Patrol agents. They were traveling with two Chinese nationals who had also just entered the country illegally. The Chinese nationals were aged 52 and 53. They had no prior immigration or criminal records in the United States.
“Customs and Border Protection is pleased with the conviction and sentencing of Mr. Fuentes-Gomez, and we are hopeful that this sentence sends a strong message to others that they face severe consequences for violating U.S. immigration law,” U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent John C. Pfeifer said. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s office to arrest and to hold accountable previously deported criminal aliens who disrespect our nation’s laws.”
The prosecution in New York stands in sharp contrast to the lack of action by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Texas who declined to prosecute Nicondemo Coria-Gonzales, a Mexican national who had been deported four-times prior to returning and engaging on a spree of rapes and assaults of women in Austin, Texas, Breitbart Texas reported this week.
Following Breitbart Texas’ revelation that the U.S. Attorney’s Office had declined to prosecute the criminal alien, the chairmen of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and the U.S. House Judiciary Committee announced a probe to find out why this man was allowed to return to the streets and begin his violent crime-spree.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.