Illegal Mexican alien sent to prison after being kicked out of U.S. twice then coming to Iowa

CEDAR RAPIDS – A Mexican man who had previously been deported twice but ended up in Iowa was sentenced on September 18, 2017, to 21 months in federal prison.

Abundio Garcia-Gonzalez, age 48, a citizen of Mexico who had been living in Iowa City, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 20, 2017, guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry of a removed alien after an aggravated felony conviction.

At the guilty plea, Garcia-Gonzalez admitted he illegally reentered the United States without permission after having been deported from the United States in 1997 and 2006. Garcia-Gonzalez, using various aliases, was also given voluntary returns to Mexico five additional times between 1993 and 1998. Garcia-Gonzalez, using an alias, was previously convicted in California in 1991 of the felony offense of selling cocaine. In 1996, Garcia-Gonzalez, using an alias, was convicted of the felony offenses of possession of cocaine and escape while felony charges are pending. Garcia-Gonzalez was also convicted in Indiana in 2002 of aggravated battery.

Garcia-Gonzalez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade. Garcia-Gonzalez was sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Garcia-Gonzalez is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.