Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Luis Miguel Hernandez-Flores, 37, of the country of El Salvador, has been indicted in federal court for possession of a firearm by an illegal alien. John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced the charge.
Hernandez-Flores appeared today before United States Magistrate Judge Martin A. Fitzpatrick at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida for his arraignment.
If convicted, Hernandez-Flores faces up to 15 years’ imprisonment and deportation proceedings following a term of incarceration.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Gadsen County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Highway Patrol, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin M. Keen.
An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline ) 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. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.