Thursday, January 25th 2018, 3:02 pm PST
By Rachael Thomas

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -
A member of a notorious gang has been sentenced to prison after illegally re-entering the country after being deported.

On Wednesday, January 25, Juan Blanco, 37, a member of the MS-13 gang, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison after being convicted for illegal re-entry into the U.S. by a removed alien.

The Department of Justice reports that back in March of 2017, a federal grand jury in the Middle District of Louisiana returned an indictment, charging Blanco will illegal re-entry. Blanco had been arrested in Baton Rouge after using a machete in an assault. Blanco was convicted of aggravated assault and other charges , then in August of 2017, pleaded guilty to the pending federal indictment.

On Wednesday, Blanco reportedly admitted he is a member of the MS-13 gang, which is a violent gang that's active in Central America and the U.S. Blanco has an extensive criminal record, dating back to 2002, including multiple convictions for robbery, assault, battery, and resisting an officer.

Blanco was deported from the U.S. back to his home in El Salvador in 2008.

"Immigration-related crimes involving those affiliated with gangs are a priority for this office, and for good reason. Blanco illegally re-entered the United States after being deported, and once here, he continued to commit violent crimes in our community. I appreciate the work of ICE-Enforcement and Removal Operations in identifying Blanco and bringing him to our attention, so that we could use the resources and criminal statutes available to us to assist in keeping Blanco off of our streets for as long as possible," said Acting U.S. Attorney Corey Amundson.

http://www.wafb.com/story/37353559/m...tering-country