A Mexican national was sentenced on April 30, 2025, after pleading guilty to the charge of illegal reentry of a removed alien, as mentioned in the press release from the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Santiago Puente-Garcia, 26, received a sentence consisting of time already served in detention, which will be followed by one year of supervised release, and he must also pay a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.
Puente-Garcia had been previously removed from the United States on February 4, 2022, and was later discovered in the Eastern District of Louisiana on October 29, 2024, the court records detail, while the work of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations was highlighted by Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson in the investigation of this case. Assistant United States Attorney Jon Maestri of the General Crimes Unit oversaw the prosecution of Puente-Garcia.
The sentencing was announced by Acting United States Attorney Simpson, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. United States District Judge Lance M. Africk presided over Puente-Garcia's case, which resulted in a sentence equal to the time he had already served.
