CEDAR RAPIDS – An illegal alien from Guatemala located by authorities in an Iowa jail cell will serve 39 days in a federal prison before more outcomes are introduced.
Humberto Leonidas-Suarez, age 61, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Dubuque County, Iowa, received the prison term after a March 4, 2025, guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry into the United States after having been deported.
At the guilty plea, Leonidas-Suarez admitted he had previously been deported from the United States and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government. Leonidas-Suarez was previously deported in 2010 and 2024. On February 6, 2025, immigration officials learned Leonidas-Suarez had illegally returned to the United States and found him at the Dubuque County Jail following his arrest on state charges for failure to appear.
Leonidas-Suarez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. He was sentenced to 39 days’ imprisonment. He must also serve a one-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Leonidas-Suarez is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be turned over to immigration officials.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.