News Releases

2 Mexican nationals sentenced to prison for illegally reentering the U.S.

MADISON, Wis. - Two criminal aliens, who had been previously deported to Mexico, were sentenced in federal court on Wednesday for illegally reentering the United States. This sentence resulted from investigations conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Santos Luciano-Saldana, 53, was sentenced July 7 in the Western District of Wisconsin to six years in federal prison for illegally reentering the United States after having previously being deported. Luciano-Saldana was deported to Mexico in 2005 following a conviction for distributing cocaine in Texas. The defendant then illegally returned to the United States and was convicted in Milwaukee County Circuit Court for possessing cocaine with intent to distribute. After he completed his three-year prison sentence for that offense, Luciano-Saldana was taken into custody by federal law enforcement officers after he was indicted in this case.

In an unrelated case, Arnulfo Romero-Gonzales, 27, was sentenced to six months in prison for illegally reentering the United States after having previously being deported. Romero-Gonzales was deported to Mexico in 2001 following a felony conviction for possessing a fraudulent identification card in Illinois. His illegal reentry to the United States was discovered when he was arrested in Marathon, Wis., based upon a telephone tip provided to ICE agents.

Both Luciano-Saldana and Romero-Gonzales pleaded guilty in April to illegally entering the United States without obtaining the required permission from the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. They will be deported again to Mexico after they complete their prison sentences. Reentering the United States after being formally deported is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter Jarosz and Robert Anderson, Western District of Wisconsin, prosecuted the cases.