March 5, 2008

ILLEGAL ALIEN SENTENCED TO 43 MONTHS FOR FIREARMS OFFENSE

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Fausto Guerrero, a.k.a., Fidel Merced, a.k.a., Alexandro Velez, was sentenced to 43 months in prison for being a felon in possession of firearm and for illegally re-entering the United States after having been previously deported and removed. Upon completion of this prison sentence, Guerrero will again be deported and removed from the United States.

According to court records, Guerrero was deported from the United States in 2002 after serving a six-month prison sentence in Massachusetts for cocaine distribution. He subsequently illegally re-entered the United States. In August 2004, Guerrero,
using the name Fidel Merced, was arrested by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and the Barre City Police after he attempted to trade cocaine for four firearms. Guerrero was released after his arrest in Vermont and returned to Massachusetts. Three months later, Guerrero, now using the name Alexandro Velez, was arrested by the Boston Police for distributing six ounces of cocaine to an undercover officer. It was subsequently determined that Velez and Merced were in fact Guerrero. Upon his release from prison in Massachusetts in November 2006, Guerrero was turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service in Vermont to face the Vermont charges. On August 27, 2007, Guerrero pleaded guilty in United States District Court in Burlington to being a felon in possession of a firearm and to illegally re-entering the United States after having been previously deported and removed.

U.S. Attorney Thomas D. Anderson commended the work of ATF and the Barre City Police in this investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John M. Conroy. Guerrero is represented by Stephen D. Judge, Esq.