Two Mexican nationals with past convictions for cocaine offenses admitted to unlawfully reentering the United States, court records in the Southern District of Ohio revealed. Juan Carlos Garcia-Vazquez, 45, who was convicted in Franklin County in 2024 for cocaine trafficking, entered a guilty plea after having been previously deported in 2004, and again in 2013.
Lino Mendiola-Vanegas, also 45, whose criminal history includes cocaine trafficking and forgery, similarly acknowledged his illegal re-entry after a 2010 deportation order. The pleas were entered before Chief U.S. District Judge Sarah D. Morrison, as announced by Acting United States Attorney Kelly A. Norris, Jared Murphey, acting Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Detroit, and Robert Lynch, Field Office Director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Detroit Field Office, according to a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of Ohio.
Under federal law, individuals who reenter the U.S. illegally after deportation face up to two years in prison. This sentence can increase to 10 years for those with prior felony convictions, and up to 20 years for those with aggravated felony convictions. Assistant United States Attorney Kenneth F. Affeldt is handling the prosecution of these cases.
The defendants' sentencing will be at the discretion of the court, guided by congressional mandates, minimum and maximum statutory sentences, and the advisory sentencing guidelines, among other statutory factors. The Southern District of Ohio Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), an initiative established under President Trump via Executive Order 14159 titled "Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice, led the investigation and prosecution as part of Operation Take Back America. This national initiative aims to address illegal immigration, dismantle cartels, and combat violent crime by pooling efforts from the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
