A Guatemalan man who was sentenced to 54 months after a Liberty Township crash seriously injured a Cincinnati Children’s Hospital nurse has now admitted he illegally returned to the United States after an earlier deportation. Johan Perez-Ventura, 27, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court, adding a federal immigration case to a legal saga that began with a November 2025 head-on wreck.
According to WLWT, Perez-Ventura was deported from the United States in February 2019 near Houston, Texas. Federal prosecutors said he later returned without authorization and was arrested after the crash.
The Crash That Started The Case
The wreck happened in the early morning hours of November 20, 2025, on State Route 747 in Liberty Township. Investigators said Perez-Ventura’s vehicle crossed the center line and struck a southbound car driven by a Cincinnati Children’s nurse, who suffered serious injuries.
The Butler County Prosecutor’s Office later listed the defendant as Yoan Jeronimo Perez Ventura, also known as Johan Perez Ventura, in its grand jury report. The document shows he was indicted on aggravated vehicular assault, two operating-a-vehicle-while-intoxicated counts and obstructing official business.
Federal Reentry Charge Is Separate From Crash Case
Monday’s guilty plea concerns whether Perez-Ventura returned to the country after his 2019 removal, not whether he caused the Butler County crash. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1326, basic reentry after deportation can carry up to two years in prison, while the statute allows higher maximums in some cases involving prior convictions.
The federal case is separate from the 54-month sentence tied to Perez-Ventura’s aggravated vehicular assault conviction. A federal judge will determine the punishment for the illegal-reentry offense, while the case continues to draw attention because it links a serious local crash with a broader federal immigration violation.
