Guatemalan National Pleads Guilty To Illegal Reentry Into The United States By A Previously Deported Alien

Jacksonville, Florida - United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that Samuel Ortiz-Ordonez (24, Guatemala) has pleaded guilty to illegal reentry into the United States by a previously deported alien. Ortiz-Ordonez faces a maximum penalty of two years in federal prison and subsequent deportation and removal from the United States. His sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.

According to court documents, Ortiz-Ordonez was previously ordered to be removed from the United States on August 28, 2019. He was deported from the back to Guatemala on June 15, 2023. Ortiz-Ordonez has never applied to the Attorney General of the United States and/or the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security for permission to lawfully reenter the United States. On March 13, 2025, Ortiz-Ordonez was found voluntarily back in the United States in Jacksonville, where he was encountered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. After being approached by ICE officers, Ortiz-Ordonez abandoned the vehicle that he was driving and fled on foot through a local residential neighborhood. After a brief chase, he was apprehended.

This case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO). It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the United States Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect communities from the perpetrators of violent crime and human trafficking.