BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Mexican man for being in the country illegally and illegally possessing a firearm, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Ray Parmer.
A two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges MARIO PEREZ-VELASQUEZ, 41, also known as Julian Perez-Bravo, Mario Perez-Velazquez and Julian Perez-Brabo, with one count of possessing a firearm and being prohibited to do so because he was in the United States illegally. The indictment also charges Perez-Velasquez with illegally re-entering the United States after previously being deported.
According to the indictment, Perez-Velasquez possessed an EIG derringer .22-caliber pistol on Jan. 25, 2015, in Talladega County. On April 10 this year, Perez-Velasquez was found to be voluntarily in the U.S. after having been removed to Mexico in March 2004, January 2006 and May 2012.
The grand jury also indicted two other Mexican nationals for being in the U.S. illegally after previously being deported. In separate indictments, the grand jury charged JESUS GOMEZ-GONZALEZ, 35, also known as Jesus Gomez and Jesus Gomez Olvera, and MIGUEL ANGEL GONZALEZ-JIMENEZ, also known as Miguel Angel Gonzalez.
According to the indictments, Gonzalez-Jimenez was found in St. Clair County on March 23 after having been removed from the U.S. in July 2014, and Gomez-Gonzalez was found in Morgan County on April 7 after being removed from the country in November 2004.
None of the defendants obtained consent from the U.S. attorney general or the secretary of homeland security to re-apply for admission into the United States, according to the charges.
The maximum penalty for illegal re-entry after deportation is two years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum sentence for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The Department of Homeland Security investigated the cases, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama is prosecuting.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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