(Sioux City)– A resident of Mexico who had been living in northwest Iowa recently after illegally re-entering the U.S. has been sentenced in U.S. District Court. 49-year-old Jesus Banuelos-Lepe was sentenced Wednesday to four years in federal prison after having pled guilty previously to one count of illegal re-entry as a felon.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa says Benuelos-Lepe had been living recently in Maurice. He was arrested in Sioux county on July 20th of last year for OWI after being found passed out behind the wheel of his vehicle in the middle of the road. Upon being booked into jail he provided a false alias to law enforcement, who determined his true identity after further investigation. It was then discovered Banuelos-Lepe had been removed from the U.S on five previous occasions and that he was back in the country illegally.
Banuelos-Lepe had also previously been convicted of federal felony transportation of an illegal alien in April, 2007 in Oregon.
