CEDAR RAPIDS – A Mexican woman who illegally returned to the United States after being deported was sentenced January 11, 2023, to more than two months in federal prison – then set free on supervised release.
Lourdes Tetzoyotl-Quiahua, age 33, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States and residing in Ridgeway, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 17, 2022, guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry into the United States after having been deported.
At the guilty plea, Tetzoyotl-Quiahua admitted she had previously been deported from the United States and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government. Tetzoyotl-Quiahua was previously deported in November 2009 following her conviction in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona for illegal entry into the United States, a misdemeanor. She had also been returned to Mexico by immigration officials in September and October 2009. Employment records show that by early January 2010, Tetzoyotl-Quiahua was illegally working in Iowa. On October 20, 2022, immigration officials learned Tetzoyotl-Quiahua had illegally returned to the United States and found her at her residence in Ridgeway.
Tetzoyotl-Quiahua was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Tetzoyotl-Quiahua was sentenced to 79 days’ imprisonment. She must also serve a one-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Tetzoyotl-Quiahua, having completed her sentence, was released to begin serving her term of supervised release.
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.
