A Mexican national who was arrested in Hall County on drug charges in 2018 has been sentenced by federal authorities after returning to the United States following his deportation.
Sadat Alvarez-Sanchez, 40, of Veracruz, Mexico entered a guilty plea on March 25, 2019 to illegally re-entering the U.S. following his deportation for the Hall County crimes. Alvarez-Sanchez also had been deported prior to being arrested in Hall County for crimes committed in North Carolina.
For the latest violation, Alvarez-Sanchez was sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Richard Story ordered he be deported again after he finishes his prison sentence.
"This office continues to collaborate closely with our federal partners to identify and prosecute violent criminals who disregard our immigration laws and unlawfully re-enter the United States," said U.S. Attorney Byung J. "BJay" Pak in a Wednesday morning press statement.
The press statement said Alvarez-Sanchez has a violent criminal history.
Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) found Alvarez-Sanchez on September 24, 2018, at the Hall County Detention Center, where he was being held after an arrest on felony drug charges. ERO officers performed a background check and determined that Alvarez-Sanchez had been deported just months before the Hall County arrest on April 12, 2018.
The initial deportation resulted from convictions for violent felony offenses in North Carolina, including 2005 convictions for attempted first degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon and first degree kidnapping, as well as a 2012 conviction for assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to seriously injure.
The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations.
