A Mexican national who resided in the U.S. illegally for 28 years and had been removed from the U.S. five times was sentenced to nine months behind bars in Virginia on Monday.
A Chesterfield County judge sentenced Mario Santos-Ochoa, 44, to nine months in jail for committing his third drunk-driving offense and felony identity fraud, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials have also placed a detainer on Santos-Ochoa, meaning that he will be deported after he serves his sentence.
The officer who arrested Santos-Ochoa determined the illegal alien suspect had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.11 percent—which is 0.3 percent over the 0.08 percent legal limit to operate a vehicle in the state of Virginia.
Prosecutors say Santos-Ochoa had two other DUI convictions—one in 2009 and one in 2016. The illegal alien was also accused of providing an officer with a fake ID during his 2016 arrest.
The Mexican national reportedly had a family with four children during his time in the U.S.
Santos-Ochoa had been deported on five different occasions between September 1997 to September 2014, and illegally re-entered the country once more after ICE officials last removed him, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Carissa Cutrell.
The illegal alien also had three prior convictions for re-entering the country illegally in Texas federal court after federal immigration officials deported him in 2009, 2011, and 2012. A judge sentenced him to just over seven months in federal prison for those offenses, according to court documents.
Chesterfield Circuit Judge Frederick G. Rockwell III warned Santos-Ochoa at his sentencing that if he is caught re-entering the U.S. illegally again, he could face a maximum penalty of nine years and three months in prison.
Another illegal alien who attacked two women in Portland, Oregon, was also sentenced to prison time on Monday.
Sergio Martinez-Mendoza, a Mexican national and 11-time deportee, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for illegally re-entering the U.S., the Associated Press reported.
ICE statistics show that up to tens of thousands of illegal aliens are arrested by ICE each year for immigration charges, including re-entering the U.S. illegally.
Breitbart News reported that in fiscal year (FY) 2017, more than 62,500 of the illegal aliens apprehended had been charged or convicted of an immigration violation.
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