Mexican national guilty of federal immigration violations in the Eastern District of Texas

BEAUMONT, Texas - A Mexican national, illegally living in Houston, has pleaded guilty to immigration violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr.

Arsenio Leal Rodriguez, 27, pleaded guilty to unlawful reentry by a previously deported alien before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zack Hawthorn on May 12, 2025.

According to court documents, on September 19, 2024, Rodriguez was in the Liberty County Jail for another violation when a records check revealed he had prior convictions, including a conviction for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Harris County in September 2019. It was also determined Rodriguez had been previously deported from the United States in 2018 and 2020.

Rodriguez faces up to two years in federal prison at sentencing. The maximum statutory sentence prescribed by Congress is provided here for information purposes, as the sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

This case is being investigated as 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. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

This case is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Liberty County Sheriff's Office. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rachel Grove and Chris Jackson.

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