El Salvadoran National Pleads Guilty to Immigration Violation

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - An El Salvadoran national illegally living in the Western District of Missouri, has pleaded guilty to an immigration violation.

Leonel A. Umana-Gonzalez, 50, pleaded guilty to unlawful reentry by a removed alien before U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark on Nov. 12, 2026.

Umana-Gonzalez was in state custody when Immigration and Customs Enforcement found him in September 2024. Umana-Gonzalez was an alien illegally present in the United States after having been previously deported in January 2002 and did not have permission to return to the United States.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rudolph R. Rhodes IV. It was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations/Criminal Alien Program.

Operation Take Back America

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.