A Mexican national was convicted in a Waco federal court for registration violations. According to the official statement by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas, Hugo Moreno-Mendez, 41, faced a bench trial and was sentenced to time served for one count of willful failure to register and one count of failure to provide DNA.
Moreno-Mendez had previously been convicted for unlawfully installing a tracking device. As part of the sequence of events, he was also taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier in the year, on March 13, which then culminated in charges of failing to fully comply with the registration process. Despite being sentenced to 180 days of confinement for the prior state crime, he has been in federal custody since March and will now be processed to certainly be removed from the country.
The case against Moreno-Mendez was investigated by ICE and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Smith-Burris. This comes amidst ongoing discussions and debates over immigration policies and enforcement practices. U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons made the announcement regarding Moreno-Mendez's conviction.
Throughout the trial process, it was revealed that Moreno-Mendez refused to submit fingerprints and a DNA sample required by immigration officers—resulting in the additional charge. There has been no comment from Moreno-Mendez's legal representation in the press release.
