Pedro Zuniga-Lopez, a 35-year-old Mexican national, has been sentenced to 37 months in federal prison with an additional two years of supervised release for illegal reentry into the United States after deportation. Zuniga-Lopez pleaded guilty to the charge.
Court documents reveal that on September 19, 2024, Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) Deportation Officers were alerted by the Indiana Department of Corrections about Zuniga-Lopez's custody following a conviction for domestic battery involving bodily injury to a pregnant woman. He was due for release on October 22, 2024.
Zuniga-Lopez had previously been deported several times, including once in 2018 and twice in 2020. His entry into the United States was prohibited due to his conviction for at least one aggravated felony under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
His criminal history includes two prior federal convictions for illegal reentry and other offenses such as breaking and entering, alongside domestic battery with bodily injury to a pregnant woman. In 2024, he assaulted his pregnant girlfriend after she refused to allow drugs in her home. The attack was witnessed by her three young children. Following this incident, Zuniga-Lopez forcibly entered her home again but was later arrested and convicted in Marion County.
John E. Childress, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, stated: “While in the United States unlawfully, this defendant has repeatedly broken the law, demonstrating time and time again a fundamental lack of respect for this country... Our office is committed to working with our ICE partners to charge and convict aliens that illegally re-enter the country.”
Douglas Thompson from ERO Chicago added: “Our ICE Officers work tirelessly... We will continue to work with our federal partners at the United States Attorney’s Office to prosecute violent felons like Zuniga-Lopez.”
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and presided over by U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Wood prosecuted the case.
This sentencing is part of Operation Take Back America—a nationwide initiative aimed at combating illegal immigration and protecting communities from violent crime through resources from various Justice Department task forces.