Updated on July 17, 2017 at 2:18 PM Posted on July 17, 2017 at 2:17 PM

By Cole Waterman

BAY CITY, MI -- Two Mexican citizens who immigrated to Michigan are facing deportation after pleading guilty to illegally entering the country.

Jose R. Suarez-Huerta, 23, and Josefina Hernandez-Gomez, 19, appeared before U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Ludington on Friday, July 14. Both pleaded guilty to one count of illegal reentry of a previously removed alien, a two-year felony.

Ludington proceeded to sentence each defendant to time served and a $100 fine. Both defendants' sentencing guidelines ranged from zero to six months.

The plea agreements stipulate Suarez-Huerta and Hernandez-Gomez are subject to deportation.

The defendants' cases were not connected to one another.

Suarez-Huerta's conviction stems from Border Patrol agents having arrested him in Gaylord on April 27. Suarez-Huerta had been working for a roofing company that had a history of hiring undocumented immigrants, court records show. The arrest came as a result of agents' investigation into the business.

Suarez-Huerta was first arrested for being in the U.S. illegally back in 2010. Two years later, he was convicted of a drunken driving charge and received a 73-day jail sentence before being deported.

In 2014, Suarez-Huerta was again the U.S. and arrested on another drunken driving charge. He pleaded guilty to that and was sentenced to 100 days in jail.

Rather than resulting from a focused investigation, Hernandez-Gomez's conviction has its origins in a routine traffic stop. The morning of April 29, a Michigan State Police trooper pulled over a speeding black 2004 Saab sedan on Interstate 75 in Bay County. Hernandez-Gomez was a passenger in the car, which contained two males who also had entered the country illegally.

Between November 2015 and January 2016, Hernandez-Gomez was deported three times to Mexico.

Defense attorney Ryan J. Sherer represented Suarez-Huerta and Hernandez-Gomez. The Times could not reach him for comment.

http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/i...plead_gui.html