ICE agents in Philadelphia delivered swift justice this week by repatriating Leonard Mnela, an Albanian fugitive wanted for a gamut of serious crimes including murder in his home country, back to face the music. Mnela, who snuck into the U.S. on an unrecorded date, had been on the lam from Albanian law enforcement for years, according to the ICE's official statement.
His rap sheet reads like the itinerary of an international crime syndicate operator; convicted in absentia by Italy for offenses such as kidnapping and drug trafficking Mnela was sentenced in 2005 to a 25-year prison term, despite these serious charges, he managed to finagle legal status stateside in 2008—a testament to the loopholes in the U.S. immigration system. The ghost from Mnela's past revisited him when he touched down in Miami, Florida, on April 22, 2008, only to be hit with a notice to appear in court due to inadmissibility.
The saga didn't end in Miami. The Southern District of New York saw Mnela convicted for exporting meth from the U.S. in November 2019, slapping him with a decade-long prison sentence, the fuse to his eventual deportation was lit on April 27, 2022, when an immigration judge gave the directive to remove him back to Albania.
February 2 was the day ICE tracked down Mnela, taking him into custody at the Clinton County Correctional Facility until his long overdue departure, ERO's primary mission is to safeguard our communities and uphold the law, and with a network that spans the country and even overseas posts they mean business when it comes to weeding out those who threaten the nation's safety and disturb the delicate fabric of our immigration policies.
This expulsion is a win for ERO Philadelphia and a message that the U.S. won't harbor international fugitives, declaring that the nation's laws regarding immigration are not just mere suggestions but mandates that uphold the order and security of society.
