Mexican sentenced to prison for illegal re-entry after two deportations | News, Sports, Jobs

CEDAR RAPIDS – A man who returned to the United States illegally after being deported was sentenced today to more than three months in a federal prison.

Javier Santiz-Santiz, 32, a Mexican national illegally present in the United States and living in Tama, Iowa, was sentenced to his prison term after pleading guilty on June 12, 2014, to one count of illegally re-entering the United States after deportation.

In his guilty plea, Santiz-Santiz admitted that he had previously been deported from the United States and had illegally re-entered the United States without permission from the U.S. government. Santiz-Santiz was previously deported in January 2013 and February 2013.

On May 2, 2024, immigration officials learned that Santiz-Santiz had returned to the United States illegally and found Santiz-Santiz in the Tama County Jail following his arrest on state charges.

Santiz-Santiz was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by U.S. District Court Chief Judge CJ Williams. Santiz-Santiz was sentenced to 98 days in jail. After his prison term, he will also have to serve one year of probation. There is no parole in the federal system.

Santiz-Santiz is being held in U.S. Marshals custody pending his release to immigration authorities. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.