Salvadoran National Sentenced to Federal Prison for Illegal Reentry into the United States

Fort Myers, Florida - Jose Toribio Canales (44, El Salvador) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell to eight years and four months in federal prison for illegal reentry after deportation. Toribio Canales pleaded guilty on July 2, 2026. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.

According to court documents, Toribio Canales is a citizen of El Salvador. He was convicted in 2006 of lewd or lascivious battery of a person 12 years of age or older, but less than 16 years of age, in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Broward County, Florida. He was also convicted in 2015 of failure to register as a sex offender and illegal reentry after deportation in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida. Toribio Canales had previously been deported from the United States in 2006 and 2020, and he has never obtained permission from the Attorney General or the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security for readmission in the United States.

Toribio Canales illegally reentered the United States and was found on November 13, 2024, after being arrested on state criminal charges.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.

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.