Description: Bangor, Maine criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with reentering the United States after removal.

In April 2023, Alberto Beltran-Martinez, 44, and six others were pulled over in a van with six others in Hamlin near the international boundary by a U.S. Border Patrol Agent from the Van Buren Border Patrol Station. Immigration records showed that Beltran-Martinez had twice been previously removed from the U.S., in September 2006 at Laredo, Texas and in April 2021 at Del Rio, Texas. Beltran-Martinez had not obtained the express consent of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to reapply for admission.

Beltran-Martinez faces up to 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine followed by five years of supervised release. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection investigated the case.

REENTRY OF REMOVED ALIEN, 8:1326(a)

(a) In generalSubject to subsection (b), any alien who—

(1) has been denied admission, excluded, deported, or removed or has departed the United States while an order of exclusion, deportation, or removal is outstanding, and thereafter

(2) enters, attempts to enter, or is at any time found in, the United States, unless (A) prior to his reembarkation at a place outside the United States or his application for admission from foreign contiguous territory, the Attorney General has expressly consented to such alien’s reapplying for admission; or (B) with respect to an alien previously denied admission and removed, unless such alien shall establish that he was not required to obtain such advance consent under this chapter or any prior Act,

shall be fined under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.

Outcome: Defendant elected to plead guilty.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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