Federal prosecutors charge 20 illegal aliens for returning following removal

March 28, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

Federal prosecutors in the Central District of California working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) filed criminal charges this week against 20 illegal aliens who were allegedly in the United States following removal, the Justice Department announced today.

Many of the 20 defendants were convicted of felony offenses, spent time in prison, were deported, and then returned. Defendants who were removed after being convicted of a felony face up to 10 years in federal prison while those convicted of an aggravated felony face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

For most of those removed for other reason, they face a minimum sentence of two years in prison.

If convicted, the defendants will serve their sentences in a federal prison in the United States before being deported, said Ciaran McEvoy, the public information officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office Central District of California.

At this time, McEvoy was able to discuss three of the 20 cases of returning to the United States following removal, but none of the other cases:

ICE agents arrested Aristeo González Rosas, 24, of Mexico on Feb. 15 in Ventura County.

Prior to this arrest, González Rosas was convicted in 2022 in Ventura County Superior Court of carrying a loaded firearm with a large capacity magazine, for which he was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment.

Then in 2023, the Ventura County Superior Court found Rosas guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm, for which he was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

Rosas was deported on Aug. 31, 2024 and again on Sept. 5, 2024.

Federal agents arrested Antonio Espinoza Zarate, 55, a.k.a. “El Gato,” of Los Angeles on Wednesday on charges that he sold two kilograms of fentanyl pills to a buyer from July 2023 through Feb. 2025, illegally re-entering the United States following removal, and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

Espinoza is a citizen of Mexico who was previously deported in 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2017 and illegally reentered the United States following his removals, according to court documents. His criminal history includes felony convictions in 2008 in Los Angeles Superior Court for possession of narcotics for sale and in 2015 in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona for illegal reentry of a removed alien.

Efrén García Jiménez, 24, of Mexico, is charged with being an illegal alien found in the United States after removal. García Jiménez was convicted in Orange County Superior Court of discharging a firearm at an inhabited residence and vandalism. He was sentenced to three-years in prison.

Following his 2019 release, García Jiménez was deported.

These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, “a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.”