U.S. Justice Department: Guatemalan Man Convicted of Strangulation/Suffocation, and Living in Framingham, To Be Deported

In full transparency, the following is a press release from the U.S. Justice Department.

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BOSTON – A Guatemalan man residing in Framingham pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to illegally reentering the United States after deportation.

Carmen Jimenez-Cruz, 42, pleaded guilty to illegal reentry before U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley, who scheduled sentencing for May 11, 2023. Jimenez-Cruz was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2022.

In May 2013, Jimenez-Cruz was encountered by federal immigration authorities after he illegally crossed the Mexican border into Texas without being admitted by an immigration officer.

He was removed from the United States in June 2013.

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Sometime after his removal, Jimenez-Cruz illegally reentered the United States and one month later, in July 2013, Jimenez-Cruz was again encountered by federal immigration authorities in Texas after having entered the United States without inspection. He was removed from the United States for the second time shortly thereafter in July 2013. 

On an unknown date and place, Jimenez-Cruz illegally reentered the United States again. In April 2019, federal immigration authorities located Jimenez-Cruz at the Middlesex County House of Correction where he was being held pretrial on unrelated state charges.

According to court records, in May 2022, Jimenez-Cruz was convicted of strangulation/suffocation and assault and battery on a family/household member and was sentenced to an 11-month split sentence followed by probation until May 2023.

Upon completion of his sentence, Jimenez-Cruz was released from state prison without notification to federal immigration authorities. 

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Jimenez-Cruz was later located in September 2022 upon him being identified as a passenger during a motor vehicle stop in Framingham. Jimenez-Cruz was taken into custody. Fingerprints obtained from Jimenez-Cruz during his booking process were confirmed as an identical match to a prior removal verification document. 
  
The charge provides for a maximum sentence of two years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $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; Todd Lyons, Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations; and Framingham Police Chief Lester Baker made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus of Rollins’ Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

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