United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Ramon Ramirez-Frias, also known as “Willy Ramirez-Frias” and “Mollo,” a 40-year-old Dominican national residing illegally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced to nine months in prison. The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Kai N. Scott for Ramirez-Frias’s illegal reentry into the United States following prior deportation. After serving his sentence, he will be removed from the country once again.
Ramirez-Frias’s history with U.S. authorities dates back to April 2004 when he was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol in Puerto Rico and processed for voluntary removal from the United States. He later returned illegally and was arrested by FBI Philadelphia in April 2022 on federal drug charges. In February 2023, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin and two counts of possession with intent to distribute heroin. He was removed from the U.S. in November 2023 under an immigration judge’s order.
Earlier this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the FBI received information indicating that Ramirez-Frias had returned illegally to the U.S., residing in Philadelphia. He was located and arrested in February, indicted in March, and pleaded guilty to illegal reentry in April.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative aimed at combating illegal immigration, dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protecting communities from violent crime perpetrators. The operation consolidates efforts from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).
The investigation was conducted by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations along with the FBI, while Assistant United States Attorney S. Chandler Harris is prosecuting the case.
