Cesar Ruben Yllescas, a 52-year-old citizen of Peru, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with unlawful reentry of a removed alien, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut David X. Sullivan announced on Mar. 27.
The case highlights ongoing efforts to address repeat illegal entries into the United States by individuals previously deported for criminal offenses. The charge against Yllescas comes amid broader initiatives to combat illegal immigration and related crimes.
According to court documents, Yllescas was arrested and convicted multiple times between 1995 and 2015 in Connecticut Superior Court and Chicopee, Massachusetts District Court for narcotics offenses, threatening, assault, failure to appear in court, and illegal operation of a motor vehicle. He was first deported to Peru in June 2016 but later reentered the U.S., leading to another conviction for unlawful reentry in federal court. In December 2019 he was sentenced to ten months’ imprisonment before being deported again in May 2020.
Authorities allege that Yllescas illegally entered the U.S. once more and was arrested on Mar. 20 by West Springfield Police Department in Massachusetts on motor vehicle-related charges as well as an outstanding warrant from a probation violation dating back to 2015. After his release on bond from state charges, he was taken into custody by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations on Mar. 23 in West Springfield.
Yllescas appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas O. Farrish in Hartford where he was ordered detained pending further proceedings. If convicted of unlawful reentry, he faces up to twenty years in prison.
Sullivan said: “A complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” The investigation is being conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations unit while Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel is prosecuting the case.
This prosecution falls under Operation Take Back America—a nationwide initiative utilizing Department of Justice resources aimed at countering illegal immigration as well as eliminating cartels, transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and violent crime.