Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Ocala, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that Henry Noe Murillo Castellanos (29, Honduras), Juan Diaz Mendez (29, Mexico), Esteban Pashanno Gomez (30, Mexico), and Hermilo Jimenez Vazquez (23, Mexico) have been arrested on federal criminal complaints charging them with illegal reentry after being previously deported or removed from the United States. If convicted, each faces a maximum penalty of two years in federal prison.
These arrests took place during an immigration enforcement operation carried out in in Sumter County during the week of May 12, 2025. According to court records, Murillo Castellanos had been previously deported from the United States on at least three occasions; Diaz Mendez had two prior deportations; Pashanno Gomez and Jimenez Vazquez each had one prior removal. None of these individuals applied for or received permission from the Attorney General, or the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, to return to the United States.
These cases were investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), the United States Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the Florida Highway Patrol. They are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Hamilton.
The investigations are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.