PHILADELPHIA, PA — Federal prosecutors in Philadelphia secured convictions and prison sentences this month for three foreign nationals who had previously been deported from the United States and later returned illegally, with each defendant now facing removal following completion of their sentences.
The cases highlight ongoing federal enforcement efforts targeting individuals who reenter the country after prior deportations, a federal offense that can carry prison time and additional immigration consequences.
Leobardo Lopez-Garcia, a 46-year-old Mexican national also known as Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Karen Spencer Marston to approximately 10 months of time served after pleading guilty to illegal reentry. Federal authorities said Lopez-Garcia had previously been removed from the United States three times—in 2000, 2004 and 2006—following encounters with the U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona.
According to prosecutors, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement became aware of Lopez-Garcia’s presence in the country after his April 2023 arrest by Hatfield Township police on a driving under the influence charge. Court records show he pleaded guilty to the DUI offense in Montgomery County in April 2024. Federal authorities arrested him on an illegal reentry complaint in August 2025, later securing an indictment and guilty plea.
In a separate case, Baudilio Lopez-Ramirez, a 37-year-old Mexican national, received a sentence of approximately two-and-a-half months of time served from U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond. Prosecutors said Lopez-Ramirez had previously been deported in 2012 after being apprehended by Border Patrol agents in Arizona.
ICE learned of Lopez-Ramirez’s presence after an arrest by Philadelphia police in December 2025, according to federal authorities. He was taken into federal custody in February, indicted the following month and pleaded guilty in April.
A third defendant, Jose Fernando Gomez-Urquia, a 32-year-old Honduran national, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr. to approximately two months of time served for illegal reentry.
Federal prosecutors said Gomez-Urquia had been deported in 2016 after an encounter with Border Patrol agents in Texas. ICE became aware of his presence after an arrest by Coatesville police in November 2025.
Gomez-Urquia pleaded guilty in Chester County Court this March to making terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another person and was sentenced to time served, according to prosecutors. Federal authorities subsequently charged him with illegal reentry, and he pleaded guilty this month after waiving prosecution by indictment.
All three defendants completed their federal sentences and are expected to be removed from the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The cases were investigated by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Josh Davison, Catherine Dos Santos and Robert Schopf.
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