Illegal Alien Faces Deportation for the Fourth Time

PROVIDENCE, RI – A Dominican national previously deported on three occasions was sentenced today to 29 months in federal prison for illegal reentry, announced United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch and C.M. Cronin, Field Office Director for United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

According to court records, Jose Mercedes-Leon, 45, was removed from the United States to the Dominican Republic in September 1999. In May 2002, he was removed from the United States for a second time, after completing a Rhode Island state court sentence imposed as the result of his conviction on a drug charge.

In July 2010, Mercedes-Leon was convicted in U.S. District Court in Providence for illegal reentry and sentenced to 2 years in federal prison. He was deported to the Dominican Republic for a third time on February 25, 2011.

In December 2016, Mercedes-Leon was arrested by North Smithfield Police on a Rhode Island state drug charge. He was released into the custody of ICE agents on May 2, 2017, after completing a term of incarceration at the Adult Correctional Institutions.

On March 29, 2018, Mercedes-Leon pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., to illegal reentry. Mercedes-Leon faces deportation for a fourth time upon completion of his term of incarceration.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zechariah Chafee, Border Security coordinator for the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island.