United States Attorney David Metcalf has announced the sentencing of two foreign nationals for illegally reentering the United States after deportation. Hugo Henry Hernandez-Bonilla, a 49-year-old Salvadoran national, was sentenced to time served by United States District Judge Mia Roberts Perez. He had been previously removed from the U.S. in September 2011 and reentered illegally before being arrested in July 2024 on a charge of driving under the influence. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took him into custody in February, and he pleaded guilty to illegal reentry in May.
Noel Velasquez-Basurto, a 33-year-old Mexican national, received a similar sentence from United States District Judge Paul S. Diamond last week. He had been deported in January 2014 after initially being encountered by U.S. Border Patrol near Nogales, Arizona, in October 2013. ICE found him again in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, earlier this year and charged him with illegal reentry.
Both cases are part of Operation Take Back America, an initiative aimed at combating illegal immigration and transnational criminal organizations. The cases were investigated by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Amanda McCool, Brittany Jones, and Lindsey Mills.
