Illegal alien sentenced to 40 months for re-entering US after being deported

MADISON, Wis. — A Mexican national was sentenced Nov. 2 to 40 months in federal prison for illegally returning to the United States after he was twice deported.

The sentence followed an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

Victor Herrera-Lopez, 27, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb after he pleaded guilty to illegally re-entering the United States after he had been previously deported.

On Nov. 6, 2010, Herrera-Lopez was arrested in Beloit, Wis., for driving while intoxicated. On May 3, 2011, he was released to ICE custody after a records check revealed that Herrera-Lopez was convicted in Madison in 2007 of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine.

An immigration judge ordered Herrera-Lopez removed from the United States in December 2003, and he was deported three days later. He was encountered in the United States and deported a second time in November 2008.

U.S. Attorney Peter Jarosz, Western District of Wisconsin, prosecuted this case.