A Guatemalan national residing in Illinois has been handed a two-year federal prison term for illegally re-entering the United States after a prior deportation, as per a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Santos Vasquez-Ortiz, 41, who faced charges for aggravated criminal sexual assault in McHenry County, was previously deported in 2008 and returned to the U.S. without government authorization.
His 2021 arrest and subsequent conviction brought Vasquez-Ortiz to the attention of federal authorities, leading him to plead guilty to one count of illegal re-entry after removal. A guilty plea earlier this year in federal court in Rockford was what sealed his fate before U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston, who imposed the sentence on Nov. 17, 2025. U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros and Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew J. Scarpino from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations announced the sentencing together.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Ladd represented the government in a case that underscores the ongoing and complicated debate surrounding immigration enforcement and the unlawful re-entry of previously deported individuals into the United States.
