A Guatemalan man has been handed down a sentence of time served, which amounts to approximately five months, plus one year of supervised release, after pleading guilty to the federal offense of illegal reentry into the United States following deportation. Marcelino De Leon Yoc, who also goes by “Eric Pineda Hernandez,” was sentenced today in a Boston federal court, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Yoc, who is 32 years old, was initially deported on May 12, 2018, only to illegally re-enter the country sometime thereafter. He was taken into custody on August 24, 2023, by immigration authorities in Lynn, Massachusetts. Holding to swiftly enforce immigration laws, Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy, alongside Todd M. Lyons, the Field Office Director from the Boston U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, announced the sentence.
According to the Justice Department's press release, beyond his immigration violations, De Leon Yoc is facing serious allegations in Suffolk County Superior Court. The charges include aggravated rape of a child, indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, and trafficking of a person for sexual servitude. The nature of these charges underscores the gravity of the situation and the dual aspects of immigration and criminal law at play.
