CEDAR RAPIDS – A Mexican man who had been deported five times, illegally returned to the United States, and then used a false identification document to obtain a job was sentenced on January 10, 2020, today to twelve months in federal prison.
Jose Amayo-Hernandez, age 27, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States and residing in Iowa, received the prison term after an October 3, 2019, guilty plea to one count of unlawful use of an identification document and one count of illegal reentry into the United States.
In a plea agreement, Amayo-Hernandez admitted he had previously been deported from the United States five times and that he illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government. Amayo-Hernandez was first deported in April 2013 following a conviction for illegal entry into the United States. Amayo-Hernandez was deported a second time on November 15, 2013, following a second conviction for illegal entry into the United States. He was again deported five days later on November 20, 2013, and again in September 2014. Amayo-Hernandez was deported a fifth time in August 2015 following a July 2015 conviction in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas for illegal reentry into the United States, a felony.
Amayo-Hernandez also admitted he used a fraudulent permanent resident card, also known as a “green card,” when he completed employment forms in October 2016 and August 2019 at a business in Lansing, Iowa. The Alien Registration number on the “green card” was issued to another person. The Social Security account number used by Amayo-Hernandez on tax paperwork was issued to someone else.
On August 19, 2019, Amayo-Hernandez came to the attention of immigration agents following his arrest on traffic charges in Clayton County, Iowa.
Amayo-Hernandez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Amayo-Hernandez was sentenced to 12 months’ and one day imprisonment. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Amayo-Hernandez 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 Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.
