Posted: Tuesday, October 2, 2012 10:33 am

Jenna Ebersole
Williston Herald

A man from El Salvador pleaded guilty on a charge of reentry of a deported alien and was sentenced in U.S. District court in Bismarck to two years and three months in federal prison, according to a press release from the district attorney’s office.

Carlos Ernesto Guerrero-Gutierrez, 29, was a passenger July 2 in a vehicle stopped near Watford City for a traffic violation when Border Patrol officials discovered he did not have legal status in the U.S., the release said.

He had previously been deported from the U.S. twice, first after being convicted of sexual battery in Oklahoma in 2003 and later in 2008, according to the release.

In an affidavit, Border Patrol Agent Marqui Labatore said a deputy at the McKenzie County Sheriff’s Office called a supervisory border patrol agent at about 6:30 a.m. from a vehicle stop on Highway 85 five miles west of Watford City where he had requested identification and immigration assistance with the four individuals in the vehicle.

A man who said his name was Selvin Mendreno-Martinez “stated he was from Honduras and admitted to being in the United States without any proper or legal immigration documents,” according to the affidavit. A later fingerprint search revealed him in fact to be Guerrero-Gutierrez, who said he had purchased a fake Honduran identification card with the false name.

Guerrero-Gutierrez also claimed to be an Edwin Noel Guerrero-Gutierrez from Mexico, but checks with his prior history and a Mexican Consulate indicated he was from El Salvador, which he later confirmed.

“When asked why he would provide false information, he stated that it was much easier to return to the United States if he was deported to Mexico than El Salvador,” the affidavit said.

In his two previous deportations, Guerrero-Gutierrez was removed to and left in Mexico, according to the affidavit.

Guerrero-Gutierrez was then read his Miranda Rights in Spanish and given the chance to speak with a consular official from El Salvador, though numerous calls to consulates went unreturned, according to the affidavit.

“No records could be found that indicate Guerrero-Gutierrez has ever applied for or been granted permission to re-enter the United States by the attorney general or his successor, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security,” the affidavit said.

The McKenzie County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Border Patrol coordinated in the investigation, according to the press release.

Illegal immigrant faces two years - Williston Herald: News