A Guatemalan national has been sentenced to 12 months in prison for unlawfully reentering the United States. U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson announced that Hilario Lucas Mendoza, aged 42, received the sentence from U.S. District Judge Sara E. Hill for the charge of Unlawful Reentry of a Removed Alien. Following his imprisonment, Mendoza will also serve one year of supervised release.
The case against Mendoza began when he was arrested by the Tulsa Police Department on charges of domestic assault and battery. During the booking process, officers discovered that Mendoza was in the country illegally.
Court documents reveal that between 2003 and 2006, Mendoza faced four arrests in Tulsa County for driving under the influence. Additionally, in 2005, he was arrested for physically assaulting his girlfriend. In 2009, Mendoza was deported twice back to Guatemala after previous unlawful reentries into the United States.
Mendoza is currently in custody and will be transferred to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations alongside the Tulsa Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Niko Boulieris prosecuted the case.