A Guatemalan national, Mateo Ramos-Perez, was sentenced to 11 months in prison for unlawfully reentering the United States after having been previously removed. The sentencing took place on September 11, 2025. After serving his sentence, Ramos-Perez will be transferred to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Court records show that Ramos-Perez, age 32, was discovered by law enforcement in Scott County, Mississippi on or about June 25, 2025. He had earlier been convicted in federal court for misuse of a social security number and had been removed from the United States twice before: once on November 8, 2012 and again on December 4, 2019.
Ramos-Perez was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 15, 2025 and pleaded guilty to the charge on September 11.
The announcement was made by Patrick A. Lemon, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi; Eric P. DeLaune, Special Agent-in-Charge for Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans; and Brian Acuna, Acting Field Office Director of ICE/ERO in New Orleans.
Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Brett Grantham prosecuted the case.
Homeland Security Investigations led the investigation as part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline), a nationwide initiative that uses Department of Justice resources to address illegal immigration and related criminal activity through coordination with Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
