FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 18, 2008
DIEGO CRUZ-MENDOZA PLEADS GUILTY IN U.S. FEDERAL COURT
Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Billings on April 17, 2008, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, DIEGO CRUZ-MENDOZA, a 26-year-old citizen of Mexico, pled guilty to illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien. Sentencing is set for July 23, 2008. He is currently detained.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On January 2, 2008, a Montana Highway Patrol trooper in Dawson County conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle near Glendive. The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, later identified as CRUZ-MENDOZA, provided the trooper with a permanent resident card and social security card belonging to another person.
An agent with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was contacted by the Montana Highway Patrol regarding the subject. A review of immigration records found the subject to be CRUZ-MENDOZA, who had a prior deportation on April 7, 2007. A fingerprint analysis also confirmed the subject was CRUZ-MENDOZA and that he had been removed from the United States on April 7, 2007, through El Paso, Texas.
A further review of immigration records did not reveal any evidence that CRUZ-MENDOZA had received permission from the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security to reenter the United States after being removed on April 7, 2007.
CRUZ-MENDOZA finally admitted that he possessed the false documents knowing that they had been forged.
CRUZ-MENDOZA faces possible penalties of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Montana Highway Patrol and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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A copy of the Offer of Proof can be obtained by contacting Sally Frank at (406) 247-4638.
