Mexican national sentenced on illegal re-entry charge

ALBANY, N.Y. — A Mexican national residing in Fleischmanns, N.Y., pleaded guilty to a felony offense of re-entry by a previously removed alien. The charge carries a sentence of up to two years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Rigoberto Navarrette Rodriguez, 24, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Mae A. D'Agostino. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 23, 2012.

Navarrette Rodriguez admitted that he was removed from the United States to Mexico on Feb. 19, 2009, by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

On Oct. 5, 2011, Navarrette Rodriguez was encountered by an ICE ERO officer at the town court in Middletown, N.Y. Navarrette Rodriguez was detained for being illegally present in the United States.

His fingerprints were analyzed later that day at the ICE ERO office in Albany, and it was determined that he had been previously removed from the United States.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward P. Grogan, Northern District of New York.