Two Mexican nationals with prior deportations were sentenced in federal court this week for illegally reentering the United States, according to the Justice Department.
David Gonzalez-Castillo, 47, was sentenced to two years in jail by US District Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro. He will be deported after serving his prison term. Gonzalez-Castillo was removed from the United States four times in 2009 following encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the US Border Patrol in Texas and Arizona.
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Gonzalez-Castillo was detained by Coatesville police in Pennsylvania in October 2024 and later convicted in Chester County for simple assault. He was arrested by ICE in March and pled guilty to illegal reentry in May after being indicted by the federal government.
In a separate case, US District Judge Joshua D. Wolson sentenced Saul Lopez Rodriguez, 32, to six months in jail. He will also be deported after serving his time. Lopez Rodriguez was deported four times between 2012 and 2013 and again in 2016 after pleading guilty to illegal entrance into New Mexico.
Last year, Norristown police detained Lopez Rodriguez, who eventually pled guilty to careless driving. In June, ICE authorities seized him during a traffic stop. The next month, he was charged with unauthorized reentry and pled guilty, waiving indictment.
“These prosecutions underscore our commitment to enforcing immigration law and protecting our communities from individuals who repeatedly violate the nation’s borders,” U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said.
The charges were prosecuted under Operation Take Back America, a Justice Department project that combines resources from the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods to combat illegal immigration, cartels, and transnational criminal organizations.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations spearheaded the investigations, while Assistant U.S. Attorneys Francis Weber and Erica Kivitz prosecuted them, with cooperation from local and federal law enforcement agencies.
