Source: United States Attorneys General
An illegal alien from Guatemala pleaded guilty today to illegal reentry after previously being deported.
According to federal and state court documents, Bayron Leopoldo Perez Batres, 64, who resided in Beltsville, Maryland, unlawfully reentered the United States after having been previously removed. On Sept. 6, 2024, Perez Batres was arrested in Maryland on state charges relating to sexual abuse of a minor. After his arrest on state charges, it was established that he was illegally present in the United States and that he has been previously removed to Guatemala on three separate occasions – in January 1996, September 2009, and May 2010. He was charged with illegal reentry in the present case on Nov. 13, 2025. He pleaded guilty to state sexual abuse charges on Sept. 2, 2025 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison in October 2025.
Perez Batres is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 20 and faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes for the District of Maryland; and Special Agent in Charge Akil Baldwin of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Maryland made the announcement.
HSI is investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Matthew Thiman and Sean F. Mulryne of the Justice Department’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michelle Li and Brooke Oki for the District of Maryland are prosecuting the case.
The indictment and plea announced today were coordinated and prosecuted by Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), the Department’s lead effort in combating high-impact human smuggling and trafficking committed by cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). JTFA also leads and supports U.S. Attorneys’ Offices (USAOs) in the prosecution of crimes related to unaccompanied alien children (UACs). A highly successful partnership between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), JTFA investigates and prosecutes human smuggling and trafficking and related immigration crimes that impact public safety and border security. JTFA’s mission is to target the leaders and organizers of Cartels and TCOs involved in human smuggling and trafficking throughout the Americas. The Attorney General has elevated and expanded JTFA to target the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling and trafficking groups operating not only in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, but also in Canada, the Caribbean and the maritime border, and elsewhere. Led by the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and supported by the Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section, the Office of International Affairs, and the Office of Enforcement Operations, among others, JTFA has dedicated Assistant U.S. Attorneys from the Southern District of California; District of Arizona; District of New Mexico; Western and Southern Districts of Texas; Southern District of Florida; Northern District of New York; and District of Vermont. JTFA also partners with other USAOs throughout the country and supports high-priority cases in any district. All JTFA cases rely on substantial law enforcement resources from DHS, including HSI and CBP/U.S. Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations, as well as FBI and other law enforcement agencies. To date, JTFA’s work has resulted in more than 465 domestic and international arrests of leaders, organizers, and significant facilitators of alien smuggling and/or trafficking; more than 424 U.S. convictions; and more than 368 significant jail sentences imposed, and forfeitures of substantial assets.
This case is 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 other transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.