FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 10, 2008
MARIO PEREZ-CHAVEZ SENTENCED IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT
Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Missoula, on January 10, 2008, before Chief U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, MARIO PEREZ-CHAVEZ, age 33, appeared for sentencing. PEREZ-CHAVEZ was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 84 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Supervised Release: 3 years
PEREZ-CHAVEZ was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On July 10, 2007, PEREZ-CHAVEZ was encountered by the Darby police during a routine traffic stop. He was not in possession of any form of identification and gave the officer a fake name. He later admitted that he was not legally in the United States.
An analysis of his fingerprints corresponded to the name MARIO PEREZ-CHAVEZ. PEREZ-CHAVEZ'S immigration records indicated that he was not a citizen of the United States, had no legal basis to support his entry into the country, and had been deported from the United States on five prior occasions, including: April 12, 1993, from Otay Mesa, California; December 1, 1993, from Otay Mesa, California; April 18, 1997, from Nogales, Arizona; December 28, 1998, from Calexico, California; and, November 23, 2005, from Calexico, California.
A further review of immigration records contain no evidence that PEREZ-CHAVEZ had applied for or received permission to enter the United States from either the Attorney General or the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that PEREZ-CHAVEZ will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, PEREZ-CHAVEZ does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Racicot prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Darby Police Department and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
