Cesar Ruben Yllescas, a 52-year-old citizen of Peru, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with unlawful reentry of a removed alien, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut David X. Sullivan announced on Mar. 27.
The case highlights ongoing efforts to address repeat illegal entries into the United States by individuals previously convicted of criminal offenses. According to court documents, Yllescas has an extensive history of arrests and convictions in Connecticut and Massachusetts between 1995 and 2015 for crimes including narcotics offenses, threatening, assault, failure to appear in court, and illegal operation of a motor vehicle.
Yllescas was first deported to Peru in June 2016 but later returned to the U.S., where he was convicted in federal court for unlawful reentry. In December 2019, he received a sentence of ten months imprisonment before being deported again in May 2020. Authorities allege that Yllescas illegally reentered the country once more; on March 20, he was arrested by West Springfield Police Department in Massachusetts on motor vehicle charges and an outstanding warrant related to probation violation from 2015. After his release on bond from state custody, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations arrested him on March 23 in West Springfield.
Yllescas appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas O. Farrish in Hartford yesterday and was ordered detained pending further proceedings. If convicted of unlawful reentry after removal following conviction for an aggravated felony or other specified offenses, Yllescas faces up to twenty years imprisonment.
Sullivan said: “A complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” The matter remains under investigation by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations with prosecution led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel.
This case forms part of Operation Take Back America—a nationwide initiative utilizing Department of Justice resources aimed at addressing illegal immigration as well as targeting cartels and transnational criminal organizations.