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A Dominican national who is facing cocaine trafficking charges was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for illegally reentering the United States after being previously deported on four separate occasions.
Lenny Soto-Mateo, 36, a Dominican national residing in Lynn, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 51 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release. Soto-Mateo will be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence. On May 22, 2019, Soto-Mateo pleaded guilty to one-count of being a previously deported alien.
Soto-Mateo had been arrested, prosecuted, and deported on four previous occasions, in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2017. Sometime after his last removal in 2017, Soto-Mateo reentered the United States without permission. On Aug. 28, 2018, Soto-Mateo was arrested by the Boston Police Department and charged with trafficking in cocaine, and charges are currently pending in the Suffolk County Superior Court.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Marcos D. Charles, Acting Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
