A 61-year-old Mexican national, Jose Antonio Villegas-Herrera, was sentenced on April 2 to serve 55 months in federal prison for illegally re-entering the United States after removal, according to Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.
Villegas-Herrera pleaded guilty on July 16, 2024. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Eskridge imposed the sentence after hearing about Villegas-Herrera’s prior conviction for possession with intent to distribute cocaine, which also resulted in a previous term of imprisonment of 55 months. The court noted that Villegas-Herrera had cut off his ankle monitor and fled before the hearing.
Authorities previously removed Villegas-Herrera from the country in 2007 but discovered him again in Houston on July 28, 2022, without authorization to be in the United States. He has been held in custody and will remain so until he is transferred to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Enforcement and Removal Operations conducted the investigation into this case, while Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Whitney prosecuted it.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas is part of the Department of Justice and serves under the Attorney General according to its official website. The office employs more than two hundred attorneys and covers forty-three counties with a population exceeding nine million according to its official website. Its main focus is prosecuting federal crimes and handling civil cases for the government according to its official website.
The Southern District has offices located in Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, Laredo, McAllen and Brownsville according to its official website. Past leaders have included Alamdar Hamdani (2022-2025) and Ryan Patrick according to its official history page.
