Updated: APRIL 13, 2018 — 8:53 PM EDT
by Marie McCullough

A Honduran man who has repeatedly been deported was sentenced Friday to 24 years in prison for kidnapping his estranged girlfriend in Kansas City, Mo., and raping her while they traveled to New Jersey, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey.

Jose Amaya-Vasquez, 33, was arrested in Texas in 2005 for attempting to enter the country illegally. He was released, but failed to show up for a court date, records show.

In June, 2014, Kansas City police arrested him for domestic assault. He was turned over to immigration officials and deported. Three months later, immigration officers arrested him near Eagle Pass, Texas, for illegally re-entering the U.S.

Although he was again deported and barred from coming back for 20 years, he returned in May 2015 and kidnapped his former girlfriend and her 2-year-old child in the parking lot of the Burlington Coat factory in Independence, Mo. He spent two days taking them across the country, staying in motels, and repeatedly raping the woman. He was arrested near a motel in Bellmawr, N.J., by local police acting on a tip from Kansas City police.

In addition to the prison term, U.S District Judge Noel L. Hillman ordered Amaya-Vasquez to pay $6,100 and have no contact with his victim.

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