FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or
MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885
June 24, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VIOLENT ILLEGAL ALIEN SENTENCED TO 7 YEARS FOR ILLEGAL RE-ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES
Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. sentenced Miguel Montez-Flores, age 36, a Mexican national residing in Silver Spring, Maryland, today to seven years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for unauthorized re-entry of a deported alien, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Montez-Flores will be deported after serving his seven year sentence in federal prison.
According to his guilty plea and evidence presented at today’s hearing, in 1996 Montez-Flores was twice convicted of drug charges and deported. He re-entered the United States and since 2003 has been convicted three times of driving under the influence of alcohol. In March 2006, Montez-Flores was convicted of driving 104 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone, reckless driving and other traffic charges. He was also convicted of threatening to kill the arresting officer and his family and kicking and assaulting the officers who were attempting to remove his handcuffs. Montez-Flores used an alias when he was convicted of these charges.
This federal conviction is the result of a 2007 arrest in which Montez-Flores refused an officer’s order to leave a “no loitering” area. According to testimony at today’s hearing, Montez-Flores refused to identify himself to the officer and attempted to fight the officer. When he was finally placed under arrest, Montez-Flores: threatened to kill the officers; once placed in the cruiser, repeatedly kicked the windows, the vehicle’s computer, police radio and other items, eventually kicking out the rear passenger window of a cruiser; and when officers tried to remove him from the vehicle he repeatedly spat at them and kicked them.
“This sentence demonstrates that the United States government will pursue violent offenders utilizing all available resources,” stated James A. Dinkins, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “We will work with our law enforcement partners to assure that criminal aliens are prosecuted to the fullest extent allowable under the law.”
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Montgomery County Police Department for their investigative work, and commended Assistant United States Attorney Michele W. Sartori, who prosecuted the case.