Mexican national sentenced to 2 years in federal prison for illegal re-entry

MADISON, Wis. — A previously deported convicted criminal from Mexico was sentenced Wednesday to two years in federal prison for illegally re-entering the United States.

This sentence was announced U.S. Attorney John W. Vaudreuil, Western District of Wisconsin. The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Carlos Valencia-Zepeda, 34, of Mexico, was sentenced Sept. 9 by U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 18 months in federal prison for illegally reentering the United States after having been deported, which is a felony. Valencia-Zepeda pleaded guilty to the charge July 7.

Valencia-Zepeda was previously deported from the United States following his conviction for distributing crack cocaine in 2009. In 2010 he was convicted in the Northern District of Texas of illegally re-entering the United States and sentenced to 37 months in prison. After serving his sentence, he was again deported in 2012. Valencia-Zepeda was encountered in April 2015 in Madison during an unrelated criminal investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith P. Duchemin, Western District of Wisconsin, prosecuted this case.