Honduran Illegal Alien Pleads Guilty To Illegal Re-Entry of Removed Alien

On May 15, 2025, a federal Border Patrol Agent was working on a highway interdiction on Interstate 12 near Lacombe, Louisiana. At approximately 6:45 a.m., a silver Toyota sedan passed their location eastbound on I-12. I-12 is a common route used by human/drug smugglers traveling from Texas to farther east in the United States. When the sedan passed that location, the agents noticed it had a Texas temporary paper license plate. From previous experience, smugglers will use a temporary paper license plate in order to appear legitimate. The agents decided to catch up with the vehicle to get more information. Once the agents caught up to the vehicle, they ran a computerized records/stolen vehicle check on the Texas license plate that revealed it to be a fictitious plate. Based on the direction of the vehicle, that it was traveling through a common smuggling route, and that it had a fake license plate, as a consequence, the agents stopped the vehicle and conducted an immigration inspection on its occupants. The agent went to the sedan and asked the front passenger and the rear passenger for their names and date of birth. The rear passenger told the agent that his name was "Roberto Machado-Mencia" and his date of birth. Records checks with that information found an ERIK ROBERTO MACHADO-MENCIA with the same date of birth. Records showed MACHADO-MENCIA is a citizen of Honduras who had been previously removed from the United States.

MACHADO-MENCIA faces up to two years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, up to one year of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.00 for re-entry of a removed alien.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice 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.

U.S. David I. Courcelle praised the work of the United States Border Patrol in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Carter K.D. Guice, Jr. of the General Crimes Unit is in charge of the prosecution.

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