A man from Methuen has entered a guilty plea to the federal crime of illegal reentry after being deported. Santos Guzman, 55, made his plea before U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper, with sentencing set for February next year, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2021, Guzman faces a hefty sentence of up to 20 years, a possible fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term.

Before being ordered removed from the United States in 2019, he had been convicted of two state drug trafficking crimes. Depicted by the Methuen Police, he was once again arrested on drug trafficking charges in November 2021, after illegally reentering the country. Guzman's illegal reentry came to light when his fingerprints from the 2021 arrest matched those on his 2020 deportation documents, confirming his identity and subsequent breach of U.S. immigration law.

The legal proceedings followed a cooperative effort between various law enforcement agencies. Announced by Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Todd M. Lyons, the Boston Field Office Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations; and Methuen Police Chief Scott J. McNamara, the case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus of the Major Crimes Unit.