Honduran National Sentenced for Illegal Firearm Possession (DOJ)

ROANOKE, Va. - A citizen of Honduras, living illegally in the United States after having been previously removed from the country on at least two occasions, was sentenced yesterday to time served, or approximately six months in prison for once again illegally reentering the country without authorization and for illegally possessing a firearm as an alien illegally in the United States

Brayan Sanchez-Varela, pled guilty in December 2025 to one count of possessing a firearm as an alien illegally and unlawfully present in the United States and one count of reentering the United States after having been previously deported.

According to court documents, in July 2025, Sanchez-Varela was arrested by officials in Radford, Virginia after he was observed shooting a firearm into the New River. At the time, Sanchez-Varela, and others, were illegally spearfishing.

Radford officials contacted immigration authorities who determined Sanchez-Varela was first encountered by immigration authorities in May 2011. At that time, he was ordered removed from the United States. That removal took place in June 2011.

However, Sanchez-Varela returned to the U.S. at an unknown time and immigration officials again encountered him in September 2016. He was once against ordered removed to Honduras via airplane. The second removal took place in September 2016.

At an unknown point following his second removal, and prior to his December 2025 arrest, Sanchez-Varela returned to the United States, illegally and without authorization.

The case was investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations, Virginia's Department of Wildlife Resources' Law Enforcement Division, and the Radford Police Department.

Acting United States Attorney Robert N. Tracci and Anthony A. Spotswood, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives made the announcement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney M. Coleman Adams, and Special Assistant United States Attorney John Beamer, an Assistant Attorney General with the Virginia Attorney General's Office, prosecuted the case for the United States.