Five Foreign Nationals Sentenced in November for Illegally Reentering the United States After Deportation

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that five foreign nationals convicted separately of illegally reentering the United States after prior deportations were recently sentenced.

Gerardo Antonio Estrada-Rios, 28, a Honduran national, was sentenced by United States District Judge Mary Kay Costello to 18 months in prison for illegally reentering the United States. Upon completing his prison sentence, he will be removed from the United States again.

Estrada-Rios had previously been removed from the U.S. in August 2016 and July 2019, and again in October 2024, after he had completed a two-year prison sentence resulting from his 2022 conviction in Houston, Texas, on a charge of “robbery – bodily injury.”

In March of this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) became aware that the defendant was incarcerated at the Lehigh County Prison in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Estrada-Rios was arrested on a federal criminal complaint and warrant in May, charged by indictment with illegal reentry in June, and pleaded guilty in August.

Julio Cesar Concepcion, 41, a Dominican national, was sentenced by United States District Judge Mark A. Kearney to 12 months and one day in prison for illegal reentry. Upon completing his prison sentence, he will be removed from the United States again.

In 2019, Concepcion was indicted for drug trafficking in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin. Following the expiration of his sentence, he was removed to the Dominican Republic in August 2021.

In April of this year, ICE encountered Concepcion in a Philadelphia parking lot. He admitted he was in the U.S. illegally and was taken into custody. The defendant was charged by indictment with illegal reentry in May and pleaded guilty in August.

Sean Christian, 35, a Jamaican national, was sentenced by United States District Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr. to 12 months and one day in prison and two years of supervised release for illegal reentry. Upon completing his prison sentence, he will be removed from the United States again.

Christian had previously been removed from the U.S. in August 2016, following his conviction that April in Maricopa County, Arizona, of attempt to transport marijuana for sale in an amount over the statutory threshold, for which he was sentenced to three years of probation with six months’ imprisonment.

ICE became aware in 2024 that Christian had reentered the U.S. illegally. After conducting surveillance to confirm his identity and location, ICE officers took him into custody in March of this year. He was charged by indictment with illegal reentry in April and pleaded guilty in June.

Isaac Tapia Hernandez, 35, a Mexican national, was sentenced by United States District Judge Kai N. Scott to 10 months in prison for illegal reentry. Upon completing his prison sentence, he will be removed from the United States again.

Tapia Hernandez had previously been removed from the U.S. in May 2019 and twice in June 2019, after he was stopped at the border by immigration authorities in Laredo, Texas.

In February of this year, ICE learned that the defendant was in Chester County Prison on an outstanding warrant, in connection with charges brought against him in April 2019 in the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County.

ICE arrested Tapia Hernandez on a federal criminal complaint and warrant in May. He was charged by indictment with illegal reentry in June and pleaded guilty in August.

Geysi Enecon Aguilar Montoya, 41, a Honduran national, was sentenced by United States District Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro to time served, approximately three months, for illegal reentry. Having completed his sentence, he will be removed from the United States again.

Montoya had previously been removed from the U.S. four times, in October 2007, November 2012, November 2013, and March 2024.

In July of this year, ICE received information that Montoya had again illegally reentered the United States. He was arrested on a criminal complaint and warrant in August, charged by indictment with illegal reentry in September, and pleaded guilty last month.

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 (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

The cases were investigated by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nancy Potts, Robert Schopf, and Terri Marinari.