Thread: Immigrant found in Harrison County faces prison, loss of car, $107K

May 25, 2014
By ROBIN FITZGERALD
sunherald.com

GULFPORT -- A deported immigrant found in Harrison County faces up to 10 years in prison and stands to lose his vehicle and more than $107,000 found hidden in his vehicle's engine compartment.

Jose Arturo Leyva-Gonzalez, 26, from Mexico, has pleaded guilty to re-entering the U.S. without legal permission.

He will be sentenced June 2.

He has been in custody since his arrest Nov. 22, when a Harrison County deputy sheriff found him driving without a license.

The deputy also found $107,860 hidden between the vehicle's radiator and condenser. The Harrison County Sheriff's Office seized the vehicle and the Drug Enforcement Administration seized the cash.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement began investigating Leyva-Gonzalez's background, including his fingerprints.

Court papers show Leyva-Gonzalez, who has four other aliases, was deported in January 2010. While banned from re-entering the U.S., he was convicted of a felony theft in Harris County, Texas, in January 2013 and was sent back to Mexico.

He was found illegally crossing the border in Laredo, Texas, in July 2013 and was again returned to Mexico.

He is now held without bond.

http://www.sunherald.com/2014/05/25/...ml?sp=/99/184/

Is this the kind that someone wants to give permission (permanently) to return to the U.S.? How sick can we be?