Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell has announced the sentencing of a Mexican national for illegal reentry after deportation. U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler sentenced Javier Cruz-Martinez, 29, on July 14, 2025, to time served and ordered his removal from the United States.
Cruz-Martinez was indicted in April 2025 by a federal grand jury and pleaded guilty on April 30, 2025. A non-citizen of the United States, he had been deported to Mexico in 2017 but was found back in the U.S. in March 2025. Illegal reentry after deportation is considered a felony.
This case falls under Operation Take Back America, an initiative by the Department of Justice aimed at combating illegal immigration and transnational criminal organizations while protecting communities from violent crime perpetrators. The operation consolidates efforts from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.
The investigation was conducted by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Schroeder prosecuting the case. Following his sentencing, Cruz-Martinez was placed into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
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