Massachusetts man sentenced to time served after unlawfully reentering the United States at least 8 times

BOSTON – A Mexican man residing in Massachusetts was sentenced in federal court in Boston for unlawfully reentering the United States after deportation.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, 42-year-old Pedro Romo-Gonzalez of Westford was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns to time served (approximately six months in prison). On Oct. 19, 2023, Romo-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to unlawful reentry of a deported alien.

On at least eight separate occasions between April 1998 and July 2010, Romo-Gonzalez was removed from the United States or voluntarily returned to Mexico. After each removal, he illegally re-entered the United States without obtaining the appropriate permission to reenter. He was first encountered by federal authorities in April 1998 after he entered the United States via California without being admitted by an immigration officer. In December 2009, Romo-Gonzalez was convicted in Arizona state court of solicitation to commit smuggling. Most recently, on June 13, 2023, federal immigration authorities were notified of Romo-Gonzalez’s presence in Massachusetts after he was arrested on unrelated state charges.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Todd M. Lyons, Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations; and Westford Police Chief Mark Chambers made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus of the Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.