FIVE INDICTMENTS RETURNED FOR PREVIOUSLY DEPORTED ILLEGAL ALIENS IDENTIFIED IN RECENT IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

TALLAHASSEE & PENSACOLA - Today, United States Attorney John P. Heekin announced that five previously deported illegal aliens have been indicted separately by a federal grand jury for illegal reentry into the United States.

Narciso Oswaldo Moreno-Zepeda, 42, of Honduras, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Escambia County in June 2025, after previously being deported in 2014. Trial is set for October 6, 2025, before United States District Judge M. Casey Rogers.

Hector Chaves-Morales, 27, of Guatemala, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Walton County in May 2025, after previously being deported in 2016. The matter is pending.

Franklin David Zelaya-Funez, 32, of Honduras, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Escambia County in June 2025, after previously being deported in 2021. The matter is pending.

Kevin Noel Ochoa-Venegas, 32, of Honduras, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Bay County in April 2025, after previously being deported in 2016 and 2021. Trial is set for September 22, 2025, before United States District Judge Mark Walker.

Edwin Martinez-Cruz, 38, of Honduras, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Escambia County in July 2025, after previously being deported in 2022. Trial is set for October 20, 2025, before United States District Judge T. Kent Wetherell, II.

The penalty for illegally reentering the United States after deportation is a maximum of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Ochoa-Venegas faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine pursuant to allegations of prior convictions qualifying for an increased maximum sentence.

The cases are being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations with assistance from the Escambia County Sheriff's Office, the Bay County Sheriff's Office, and the Walton County Sheriff's Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Jessica S. Etherton, Alicia H. Forbes, Brooke DiSalvo, and Justin M. Keen are prosecuting the cases.

An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The cases are part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline ) 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).

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation's principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of Florida, visit https://http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.