Mexican Felon Sentenced To 46 Months In Prison
Prosecutors Say Man Is Aggravated Felon

POSTED: 5:50 pm MDT October 3, 2008
UPDATED: 6:13 pm MDT October 3, 2008

DENVER -- A convicted felon from Mexico was sentenced Friday to 46 months in prison after he was found to have re-entered the U.S. and wound up in a Montrose jail on DUI charges, prosecutors said.

Juan Lopez-Hector was convicted in Sacramento of possession of methamphetamine, sentenced to two years in prison and deported in March 2004, said U.S. attorney Troy A. Eid.

On Nov. 8, 2007, Lopez-Hector was found by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in a Montrose jail where he was being held on a DUI charge.

"The defendant’s return to the United States following his 2004 deportation was without the permission of the United States", Eid said.

Lopez-Hector pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful reentry of an aggravated felon in March, he said. He will serve 46 months or about 2 years in jail before being deported again.

"Criminal aliens come to Colorado at their peril," Eid said.

"Sentences like this send a strong message to deported criminals who are thinking about re-entering the United States," said Jeffrey Copp, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Denver.

In addition to his conviction in Sacramento, Lopez-Hector was convicted in Palo Alto in 2002 for theft and in 2007 for driving while ability impaired in Montrose.
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