A man who illegally entered the United States from El Salvador was sentenced on March 7, 2012, to 10 months in federal prison.
Oswaldo Manrique Perez, age 32, from El Salvador, received the prison term after a September 19, 2011, guilty plea to one count of harboring an alien and one count of encouraging and inducing an alien to reside in the United States.
In a plea agreement, Perez admitted he helped recruit workers to perform construction work for a construction company in Dubuque, Iowa. Perez admitted he harbored between 6 and 24 workers in conjunction with work he performed for the construction company between about the fall of 2009 and June 2011.
Perez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Perez was sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment and a special assessment of $200 was imposed. Chief Judge Reade increased Perez’s sentence for attempting to obstruct justice. Perez tried to convince his girlfriend to not cooperate with immigration authorities after his arrest. He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Perez is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
