Honduran Criminal Alien Found Guilty of Illegally Reentering the Country

Tallahassee, Florida - Jose Guadelupe Escobar, 39, of Honduras, was found guilty by a federal jury of illegal reentry by a removed alien. The verdict was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: "Over the past two decades, this criminal alien showed a brazen disregard for our national immigration laws through his repeated, illegal re-entries after being removed from our country. More alarmingly, he admitted in sworn testimony at trial to a history of violence, both while illegally within this country and while residing in other countries. This dangerous criminality cannot be ignored. My office will continue to aggressively prosecute criminal alien defendants like this to ensure our borders remain secure and our nation's immigration laws are fully enforced."

Trial testimony and evidence demonstrated that the defendant had first been encountered by the Border Patrol in September 2004, after he illegally entered the country by wading across the Rio Grande River. The defendant failed to appear in immigration court on July 7, 2005, and was ordered removed from the country by an immigration judge. The defendant escaped notice by immigration officials until January 5, 2009, when he was encountered in a jail in Merrifield, Virginia, after being arrested for attempted murder. The defendant was removed from the United States on February 17, 2009. The defendant illegally reentered the United States and was encountered again in Los Angeles, California on December 30, 2013. The defendant was removed back to Honduras a second time on May 1, 2014. On October 22, 2025, the defendant was encountered in Tallahassee after previously being removed from the United States in 2009 and 2014.

While testifying at trial, the defendant admitted that he had previously been imprisoned in Honduras, and had spent several years in jail in Mexico on suspicion of murder.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 25, 2026, at 2:00 pm in the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before United States District Judge Robert L. Hinkle.

Escobar faces up to 2 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

This conviction was the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James A. McCain.

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.

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 FloridaLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. website. For more information about the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.