Source: Office of United States Attorneys
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A federal grand jury indicted four new immigration cases in Columbus this week.
According to their court documents, two defendants have prior convictions for drug trafficking, one defendant’s prior convictions include a firearms crime and driving under the influence, and the final defendant was allegedly smuggling illegal aliens across the United States.
Juan Carlos Garcia-Vasquez, 45, is a Mexican national who was charged with illegally reentering the United States. He was previous convicted in Franklin County for cocaine trafficking.
Ricardo Martinez-Nunez, 29, has prior convictions in Franklin County for improperly handling a firearm in a vehicle and driving under the influence. Martinez-Nunez is also charged with illegally reentering the United States. He is a Mexican national.
Previous convictions for Lino Mendiola-Vanegas, 45, include cocaine trafficking and forgery in Franklin County. He is charged with illegally reentering the United States and is a Mexican national.
Finally, it is alleged that Adalberto Calixto Tolentino, 21, was transporting four illegal aliens across the United States for financial gain.
According to his court documents, on Jan. 23, investigators with the Licking County Sheriff’s Office received information from Customs and Border Patrol located in Southern Arizona that a Toyota Highlander with an Arizona license plate was allegedly involved in human smuggling.
Sheriff’s deputies stopped Tolentino in Licking County and discovered four individuals in the vehicle as well as an envelope with $8,000 cash. When interviewed by law enforcement, one passenger said he had paid $10,000 to be helped crossing the border of Mexico into the United States. He was picked up in the desert in Arizona and eventually transported by Tolentino.
Tolentino was originally charged by criminal complaint and arrested on Jan. 24. He has remained in federal custody since that time. If convicted as charged, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
Illegally reentering the United States is a federal crime punishable by up to two years in prison. If the offender has multiple prior misdemeanor charges, the penalty is increased to 10 years in prison, and if the offender has been previously convicted of an aggravated felony, the defendant faces up to 20 years in prison.
Kelly A. Norris, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Jared Murphey, acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Detroit, and Robert Lynch, Field Office Director, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Detroit Field Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Kenneth F. Affeldt and Tyler J. Aagard are representing the United States in these cases.
An indictment merely contains allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
These cases are being prosecuted as part of the Southern District of Ohio Immigration Enforcement Task Force, which dedicates agents, attorneys and other staff to investigating and prosecuting immigration violations.
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