A Mexican national, Juan Jose Carrasco Cardenas, 40, has been sentenced to six months in prison for illegally reentering the United States after deportation. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford, according to an announcement from David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Court records show that Carrasco Cardenas first came into contact with U.S. Border Patrol in January 2002 and was given a voluntary return to Mexico. He attempted to enter the country again in May 2009 through Arizona and was charged with improper entry of an alien, receiving a five-day jail sentence before another voluntary return.
In January 2018, Carrasco Cardenas was arrested in Saline County, Kansas on charges related to marijuana trafficking. He was convicted of distributing marijuana at the state level and sentenced to 30 months in jail before being removed to Mexico in October 2019.
He was most recently arrested on August 27, 2025 by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers in Meriden and pleaded guilty to illegal reentry on September 18. He has remained detained since his arrest and will be deported after completing his current prison term.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement and Removal Operations, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel.
“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,” according to the statement.