Utah ICE officers arrest convicted felon and 2 time prior deport convicted of sex assault on a child
OGDEN, Utah — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested a previously deported felon convicted of, among other crimes, sexual assault on a child July 2.
Unlawfully present Mexican national, Roberto Montes-Lopez, 37, was arrested without incident from the Weber County Jail after being released from custody.
"Law enforcement's common goal is to keep communities safe and keep dangerous predators off the streets," said Sylvester Ortega, acting field office director for ERO Salt Lake City. "The arrest of a criminal alien like Montes-Lopez, whose criminal history spans nearly two decades, demonstrates why cooperation is so important between agencies. These partnerships will continue to protect the community from criminal illegal aliens that hurt the citizens of this country."
Montes-Lopez is an egregious immigration violator and convicted felon who has been returned or removed from the United States on four occasions between 2004 and 2011 and has been federally prosecuted for illegal reentry of a previously deported alien, a felony, Jan. 2012.
Montes-Lopez has criminal history dating back over fifteen years and includes arrests from several states beginning in 2005. His crimes include two convictions for drug possession and distribution from Indiana in 2005. He also has convictions for use of a firearm by a restricted person in 2011, money laundering in 2015 and a DUI. His pattern of criminal activity resulted in another conviction in Utah in 2015 and he was sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in prison.
On June 8, 2015 the 3rd District Court in Salt Lake County Utah, convicted Montes-Lopez for two counts of sexual abuse of a child and he was sentenced to an indeterminate term of not less than one year nor more than fifteen years in Utah State Prison.
Montes-Lopez was most recently convicted of possession and distribution of heroin in June.
Montes-Lopez will remain in ICE custody pending his removal from the United States.
ICE focuses its limited resources, first and foremost, on those who pose the greatest threat to public safety and border security and does not target aliens indiscriminately; the agency conducts investigations and gathers intelligence on specific individuals for immigration enforcement.
Targets are often those who were arrested on local criminal charges or have blatant disregard for U.S. immigration laws. The agency's arrest statistics clearly reflect this. Nationally, approximately 86 percent of all people arrested by ICE during fiscal year 2019 either had a criminal conviction, a pending criminal charge, had illegally re-entered the United States after being previously removed (a felony charge) or were an immigration fugitive subject to a judge's final order of removal.
Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives are urged to contact ICE by calling the ICE Tip Line at 1 (866) 347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also file a tip online by completing ICE's online tip form.
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