Immigrant gets 5 years for illegally re-entering

A Mexican national living in Indiana who has repeatedly returned to the United States after being deported will serve 62 months in prison for illegally re-entering the United States.

That prison time will come on top of time Juan Mata-Talavera, 37, is serving for a felony battery conviction, Justice Department officials said Monday. Mata-Talavera pleaded guilty Friday to re-entry by an illegal immigrant after previously being deported, only to return to the U.S. and commit felony battery.

Mata-Talavera was convicted of battery in 1998, which under immigration law meant he could never return to the United States without permission. But later that year, he returned to the United States without permission and was deported in 1998 and again in 1999.

He came back to Indiana once again and was convicted on a felony battery charge in 2005. He is serving a four-year sentence in the Indiana Department of Correction for that conviction.

The crime of re-entry by an illegal immigrant is a separate crime, which he will complete at the end of his state sentence.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Gayle L. Helart, who prosecuted the case for the government, Mata-Talavera will be deported again after his federal sentence is served.

Call Star reporter Cordell Eddings at (317) 444-6000.

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