Mexican Citizen Living Illegally in Charleston Pleads Guilty and is Sentenced for Immigration Crime

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. - Bernabe Montalvo Salas, 24, a Mexican citizen living illegally in Charleston, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, to reentry of a removed alien and was sentenced to time served. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has an immigration detainer on Salas and he will be transferred to ICE administrative custody for removal proceedings.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on March 28, 2025, law enforcement officers encountered Salas in the South Charleston area. ICE agents confirmed that Salas was a citizen of Mexico in the United States illegally and that he had previously been deported from the United States. Salas had no identification documents permitting him legal status in the United States.

Salas was removed from the United States to Mexico on or about March 4, 2019, after being found at or near Roma, Texas, on March 1, 2019. Salas never obtained the express consent of the Secretary of U.S. Homeland Security to reapply for admission to the United States for either of the prior removals, nor did he seek to reenter the United States through other legal means.

ICE agents encountered two brothers of Salas living illegally in Charleston. Maximino Montalvo Salas, 20, was deported after pleading guilty on July 24, 2025, to the felony offense of knowingly possessing a fraudulent Permanent Resident Card ("Green Card"). Federico Montalvo Salas, 22, pleaded guilty on July 1, 2025, to reentry of a removed alien and is scheduled to be sentenced on October 23, 2025. ICE has an immigration detainer on Federico Montalvo Salas so he will be transferred to ICE administrative custody for removal proceedings at the conclusion of any sentence.

Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston made the announcement and commended the investigative work of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO), and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber presided over the hearing and imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan T. Storage prosecuted the case, as part of a special unit within the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia focused on the immigration enforcement objectives of Operation Take Back America.

Operation Take Back America is 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. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:25-cr-81.

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