Grand jury indicts illegal alien from Mexico for illegally possessing firearms

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A Mexican illegal alien who fired a shot in the garage at his residence has been indicted by a grand jury for illegally possessing firearms.

Armando Rivera-Sereno, 41, was originally charged by a federal criminal complaint in November 2025.

According to charging documents, on Sept. 9, 2024, Columbus police officers were dispatched to Holly Hill Drive in Columbus on reports of shots fired. They discovered Rivera-Sereno in his garage, where they also found a pistol, loaded magazine, rifle, box of ammunition, spent shell casing, suspected narcotics and numerous empty beer cans.

Rivero-Sereno, who has also gone by Armando Rivera-Sanchez and Alejandro Aguirre, was convicted in 2022 of unlawfully reentering the United States as an illegal alien. He had been removed five other times before his arrest in that case.

Today's two-count indictment charges him with illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, and illegally possessing a firearm as an illegal alien, which each carry a potential penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jorge Rosendo, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF); and Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant announced the charges. Assistant Deputy Criminal Chief Brian J. Martinez is representing the United States in this case.

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.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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