Mexican National Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Illegally Re-entering the United States

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - An illegal alien has been sentenced for illegally re-entering the United States after deportation, announced Acting United States Attorney Catherine L. Crosby.

Felipe Omar Hernandez-Gonzalez, 36, and a citizen of Mexico, pleaded guilty in January 2026 to having been found in the United States after being deported. U.S. District Judge Annemarie C. Axon sentenced Gonzalez to 18 months in prison.

According to court records, Gonzalez was deported in April 2018, after he was charged with DUI and assaulting his girlfriend in Hoover in February 2018. Hernandez-Gonzalez came to law enforcement's attention again in the summer of 2025 after he beat and choked his current girlfriend in Walker County, Alabama. Court records also revealed that, in September 2017, Gonzalez pleaded guilty to and was sentenced for assault of his four-month-old daughter. The baby was taken to Children's of Alabama where she was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma from severe head trauma.

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.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Walker County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Cross prosecuted the case.