Three Foreign Nationals Sentenced for Illegally Reentering the United States After Deportation

PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that three men convicted separately of illegally reentering the United States after prior deportations were sentenced this week.

Bernardino Reyes-Gutierrez, 42, a Dominican national, was sentenced by United States District Judge Juan R. Sánchez on Thursday to 58 months in prison for illegally reentering the United States. Upon completing his prison sentence, he will be removed from the United States again.

Reyes-Gutierrez had previously been removed in February 2016, after completing a prison sentence for a 2013 drug conviction in Philadelphia County.

He reentered the United States illegally on an unknown date, was arrested in the Middle District of Pennsylvania by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in September 2023, and charged by indictment with illegal reentry that October. The defendant pleaded guilty in April of this year.

Aneudy Orlando Otanez, 44, a Dominican national, was sentenced by United States District Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg on Thursday to time served, almost seven months, for illegal reentry. Having completed his prison sentence, he will be removed from the United States again.

Otanez had previously been removed from the United States in March 2022 and reentered illegally on an unknown date.

ICE became aware of Otanez's presence in Philadelphia and took him into custody in January of this year. He was charged by indictment with illegal reentry in February and pleaded guilty in July.

Vincente Perez-Morales, 24, a Mexican national, was sentenced by United States District Judge Joel H. Slomsky on Tuesday to time served, almost four months, for illegally reentering the United States. Having completed his prison sentence, he will be removed from the United States again.

Perez-Morales had previously been removed in October 2019, after he was encountered in Texas by the U.S. Border Patrol.

In January of this year, ICE learned that Perez-Morales had been arrested in Chester County by the Pennsylvania State Police. ICE took him into custody in May, and he was charged by information with illegal reentry in July. Perez-Morales pleaded guilty this week, waiving prosecution by indictment.

These cases are 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 Neighborhoods (PSN).

The cases were investigated by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert Livermore, Rosalynda Michetti, and Ashley Martin.