Illegal Alien With 8 Prior Removals Sentenced to Federal Prison for Illegally Reentering United States

A man who illegally reentered the United States from Mexico was sentenced April 9, 2026, to 54 months in federal prison.

Julio Cesar Moreno, age 47, a citizen of Mexico, received the prison term after a November 24, 2025, guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry as a felon.

At the plea and sentencing hearings, evidence showed that on September 15, 2025, Moreno was arrested in Britt, Iowa, for speeding and not having a valid driver's license. While in custody, officials determined he was a citizen of Mexico and had previously been removed from the United States to Mexico on eight previous occasions. Moreno admitted he illegally reentered the United States without permission and was previously convicted of four aggravated felony offenses while in the United States. Additionally, Moreno had been convicted of two counts of felony deadly conduct in the discharge of a firearm in Hidalgo, Texas, in 2005.

Moreno was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Moreno was sentenced to 54 months' imprisonment. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick T. Greenwood and was investigated by the Hancock County Sheriff's Office and United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

This case is 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.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 25-CR-03047. Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA.