During a 43-day period when the federal government experienced a lapse in funding, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky continued its work on immigration enforcement cases. The office secured several sentences involving individuals residing illegally in the United States.
On October 7, David Gomez-Rodriguez, a Mexican national living in Pulaski County, was sentenced to 14 months for illegal reentry into the country. He had previously been removed from the United States in August 2022 and encountered again in December 2024 without permission to return. Before his first removal, Gomez-Rodriguez had been convicted of rape in Nelson County, Kentucky.
On October 9, Juan Esteban Mejia-Ajpop, a Guatemalan national residing in Newport, Kentucky, received a sentence of 26 months for aggravated identity theft and using false identification documents to gain employment. According to his plea agreement, he used fraudulent California and Social Security cards belonging to another U.S. citizen on two occasions.
That same day, Bernabe Domingo-Aguilar, also from Guatemala and living illegally in Newport, was sentenced to 60 months for illegal reentry after a felony conviction. He had been deported four times before—three following criminal charges—and committed rape on a minor while unlawfully present in Kentucky in 2022.
On October 14, Antonio Balderas-Arellano of Mexico was sentenced to 21 months for illegal reentry after being found in Scott County earlier that year. He had previously been deported from Atlanta back to Mexico in November 2023.
Javier Perez-Ruiz, another Mexican national living illegally in Louisville, was sentenced on October 20 to time served (about 124 days) for illegal reentry after being found in Scott County. His plea agreement noted that he had previously been convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and deported following his sentence.
On October 28, Jose Hernandez Garcia from Honduras was sentenced for possessing a firearm as an illegal alien after police stopped him for driving under the influence. Officers found a loaded gun next to an open beer bottle during their search; Garcia did not have legal status.
Miguel Ruiz Sanchez of Mexico was sentenced on October 30 to one year for illegal reentry into the United States while living illegally in Shelby County. Court documents show Sanchez had previously been deported four times between March 2011 and February 2017 and held a felony conviction prior to those removals.
Finally, Esain Benitez Alcantara—a Mexican national—was sentenced on November 4 to two-and-a-half years for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm by an undocumented individual. Police responding to shots fired found him with drugs and cash consistent with trafficking activity; he admitted both offenses according to his plea agreement.
