New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
“A Dominican man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to illegally reentering the United States after deportation.
Felix Bienvenido Gonzalez-Arias, a/k/a “Victor Manuel Trinidad-Lugo,” 38, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful reentry of a deported alien. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for May 17, 2023. Gonzalez-Arias was indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2022.
At an unknown time, Gonzales-Arias illegally entered the United States. In November 2014, he was arrested in Essex County on state charges of heroin trafficking. Gonzales-Arias was convicted of the offense, sentenced to three and a half to five years in state prison and upon completion of his sentence, he was removed from the United States in April 2018. Some point thereafter, Gonzales-Arias illegally reentered the United States.
On Sept. 1, 2022, Gonzalez-Arias was arrested in Lawrence on drug trafficking charges. . Gonzalez-Arias’ fingerprints produced a positive match from those from his 2014 arrest and 2018 removal and he was identified as being illegally present in the United States after deportation.
The charge of unlawful reentry of a deported alien provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Todd Lyons, Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Luke A. Goldworm of Rollins’ Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.” -Massachusetts Department of Justice.
