Montrose - Daily Press

DENVER — A Mexican man arrested in Montrose for suspected DUI is bound for a four-year stint in federal prison for unlawful re-entry.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release that Juan Lopez-Hector, 27, illegally entered the United States after having been convicted in California for possession of methamphetamine in 2004.

Lopez-Hector served a two-year sentence on that charge and was then deported. He was arrested in November of 2007 on DUI in Montrose County and was indicted last December on the federal count of unlawful re-entry of an aggravated felon.

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Lopez-Hector pleaded guilty in March and was sentenced Friday to 46 months in prison.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Lopez-Hector did not have permission to return to the U.S. and had been additionally convicted in California for theft. In Montrose, he was convicted of driving while ability impaired.

“Sentences like this send a strong message to deported criminals who are thinking about re-entering the United States,” Jeffrey Copp said in the news release. Copp is the special agent in charge of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Investigations in Denver.

“ICE, in partnership with U.S. Attorneys offices across the country, will ensure there are serous consequences for repeat offenders.”

Hector-Lopez was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wyatt Angelo, former Seventh Judicial District Attorney, and Rick Hosley.

 

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