Federal prosecutors in the last two weeks have filed charges in Los Angeles against 16 defendants who allegedly illegally re-entered the United States after being removed, officials announced Friday.
Many of the defendants charged were previously convicted of felony offenses before they were removed from the U.S., offenses that include sexual abuse of children, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
One of the defendants was charged in state court with a murder committed last month in Inglewood.
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The crime of being found in the United States following removal carries a base sentence of up to two years in federal prison, defendants who were removed after being convicted of a felony face a maximum 10-year sentence, and defendants removed after being convicted of an aggravated felony face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.
In the Inglewood murder, Jose Cristian Saravia-Sanchez, 30, of El Salvador was charged via a federal criminal complaint after he was arrested by the Inglewood Police Department as a suspect in the Feb. 25 murder of a man who tried to stop Saravia and another individual from allegedly stealing a neighbor’s catalytic converter.
Following the arrest, federal law enforcement determined that Saravia was previously removed in 2013 and returned to the United States illegally. At the time of his arrest on March 6, officers found a firearm in the bathroom of the hotel room in which Saravia barricaded himself, resulting in an hours-long standoff with law enforcement, federal prosecutors said.
In the complaint, Saravia is charged with being an illegal alien found in the United States and an alien in possession of a firearm. His criminal history includes a felony conviction in Los Angeles Superior Court in May 2023 for taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent. Saravia is in state custody and has been booked for murder, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In another case, Luis Enrique Barreto, 38, of Mexico, a convicted sex offender, was charged this week in L.A. federal court in a two-count indictment for allegedly failing to register as a sex offender and for illegally returning to the United States following removal.
Barreto, who was found living across from a school when he was arrested, was convicted in 2012 in Orange County Superior Court of lascivious acts with a child 14 or 15 years of age and offender 10 or more years older than victim. In September 2021, Barreto was removed to Mexico, but he returned to the United States by the following year and did not register as a sex offender, prosecutors said Friday.
A federal magistrate judge ordered Barreto jailed without bond pending trial. His arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday in federal court in downtown Los Angeles.