Salvadoran sentenced in Lexington for illegally entering U.S. a fourth time

Published: July 31, 2012


An undocumented Illegal alien with a previous felony conviction has been sentenced to nearly eight years in federal prison for re-entering the United States illegally for a fourth time.

U.S. District Judge Joseph M. Hood sentenced José Eligio Pineda-Parada, 47, on Monday to 71/2 years in prison for illegal re-entry into the United States by a previously deported felon, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Lexington.

Pineda-Parada, originally from El Salvador, was convicted after a one-day trial in May.

Evidence at the trial showed that in 1991, Pineda-Parada was convicted in Texas of felony assault and subsequently was deported. Since then, Pineda-Parada has re-entered the United States illegally four times. Most recently, Lexington authorities picked him up in December 2011 for a DUI and related traffic offenses. While he was being held at the Fayette County jail, officials identified Pineda-Parada as an undocumented alien who previously had been deported.

They sent information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which opened an investigation and took Pineda-Parada into custody.

Court records showed Pineda-Parada legally entered the country in 1987. He received a two-year prison sentence for his 1991 assault conviction. A federal judge in Texas sentenced him to three years and 10 months in 2002 for illegally entering the United States a third time. He was deported to El Salvador in 2004.

Under federal law, Pineda-Parada will have to serve 85 percent of his sentence.

Salvadoran sentenced in Lexington for illegally entering U.S. a fourth time | Public Safety | Kentucky.com