Fermin Ortuno Valdovinos, a 47-year-old resident of Summerville, South Carolina, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison. The sentence is for illegal reentry into the United States after removal, following a conviction of an aggravated felony and violation of supervised release.
Investigations revealed that Valdovinos has repeatedly reentered the U.S. illegally after being deported three times. He also has convictions for child sex crimes in the country. In 2009, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers encountered him at the Anaheim City Jail in California while he was held on charges related to lewd acts upon a child under 14.
In 2011, Valdovinos was convicted in California Superior Court for lewd acts upon a child and received sentences totaling 18 years. During his imprisonment for these offenses, immigration officials ordered his removal to Mexico. His first removal occurred on July 2, 2019.
Valdovinos illegally reentered the U.S. shortly after his initial deportation and was apprehended by Border Patrol agents near Sasabe, Arizona. In October 2019, he pleaded guilty to illegal reentry in the District of Arizona and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release.
After serving this sentence, Valdovinos was removed again on April 14, 2021. Despite this second removal, he returned illegally once more and was arrested in San Clemente, California in July 2022. He pled guilty to improper attempted entry by an alien and received a six-month sentence.
Following another removal on July 5, 2023, Valdovinos reentered the U.S., leading to his arrest by Berkeley County authorities for failing to register as a sex offender in June 2024.
Judge Richard M. Gergel sentenced Valdovinos to a total of five years' imprisonment: four years and two months for illegal reentry after an aggravated felony conviction and ten additional months for violating supervised release terms.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dean H. Secor with investigations conducted by Homeland Security's ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations.