7-time deported criminal alien from Mexico sentenced in Iowa to 21 months in federal prison for unlawfully possessing a firearm

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — A seven-time deported criminal alien from Mexico, living in northeastern Iowa, was sentenced Friday to nearly two years in federal prison for being an illegal alien and drug user unlawfully possessing a firearm.

This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Sioux City Police Department.

Luis Alberto DeLoera-Serna, 40, a Mexican man who is illegally present in the United States, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand, after pleading guilty on Jan. 11, 2019. He was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison on one count of possessing a firearm by a prohibited person; he must also serve a two-year term of supervised release after he completes his prison term.

Evidence produced at the change of plea and sentencing hearings revealed DeLoera-Serna was not only an alien illegally in the United States, and drug user who possessed a firearm, but he was also an armed drug dealer with a criminal history. That history included domestic violence, traffic offenses, and seven illegal re-entries into the United States.

Depending on an alien’s criminality, an alien who re-enters the United States after having been previously deported commits a felony punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, if convicted.

There is no parole in the federal system. DeLoera-Serna is currently in U.S. Marshal’s custody pending his transfer to a federal prison.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Forde Fairchild, Northern District of Iowa.