Guatemalan man convicted of illegal reentry after I-81 DUI arrest (Updated)

Update July 1 – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced Tuesday, July 1, that Erikx Soto-Gomez was sentenced Monday to time-served (75 days in prison). Soto-Gomez still faces pending state charges here in Lebanon County, and an ICE detainer is lodged against him for deportation proceedings, according to a news release.

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A DUI arrest by Pennsylvania State Police in Union Township on March 23 has led to a federal charge of illegal reentry for a Guatemala national.

Erikx Soto-Gomez, a 41-year-old Massachusetts resident, was arrested by state troopers shortly after 8 p.m. on March 23 on I-81S after he was seen driving a Ford F-150 erratically, crossing over the lane divider and driving in the center of the highway, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

Troopers pulled Soto-Gomez over and, according to the affidavit, Soto-Gomez said he did not have a valid license and consented to a breathalyzer test, which showed the presence of alcohol. Soto-Gomez was taken to the Jonestown barracks, where two breath samples analyzed showed a BAC of 0.12%.

Soto-Gomez was charged with two counts of misdemeanor DUI and a half-dozen summary traffic violations. He was arraigned March 24 in front of Magisterial District Judge Anthony Verna and waived his preliminary hearing April 10.

In a press release April 17, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania said that they had “encountered” Soto-Gomez on April 10 in Lebanon County, and Soto-Gomez was indicted April 16 by a federal grand jury on the charge of illegally reentering the United States after having previously been removed.

According to the indictment filed by Acting U.S. Attorney John C. Gurganus, Soto-Gomez was previously removed from the United States on July 23, 2012, through Harlingen, Texas, and had reentered the country without having first obtained legal permission.

The press release said the case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations and that Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting it. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that the case fell under Operation Take Back America, and that the maximum penalty Soto-Gomez faces under federal law for this offense is two years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.

Soto-Gomez is currently in U.S. Marshal custody by order of the court.

If convicted, he would serve any term of imprisonment imposed by the court and would then face deportation following completion of the sentence.

Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf, whose office is prosecuting the DUI charges, said her office is only involved with persons in the country illegally who receive criminal charges. When someone is charged, they undergo fingerprint processing at the county’s central booking unit, which helps police identify prior crimes or prior issues with illegal immigration. Hess Graf said her office works with ICE to verify a suspect’s status.

“We are proactive with ICE and reach out on any case where the initial investigation or fingerprint history leads us or law enforcement to the belief the person is here unlawfully and illegally,” she said in an email. “The Officer or the Police Department can and does actively reach out to ICE during the initial investigation.”

Hess Graf said that as her office’s efforts with ICE have become more widely known, defendants and their attorneys have increasingly asked for plea bargains or withdrawal of charges to keep defendants who are here unlawfully in the country. Hess Graf said they beg for lenient offers to avoid deportation, and she finds the nature of that request offensive.

“I’ve always – before I became the elected DA and after – maintained a hard refusal to these requests,” she said. “The Criminal Justice System should not offer better deals and consequences to illegal aliens than we would offer to lawful citizens.”

Hess Graf said her office works effectively with ICE because it operates in this fashion.

“The agents know if they come to Lebanon County, charges aren’t being pitched or pled down to avoid the much-deserved deportation of an illegal alien,” she said.

According to federal court records, Soto-Gomez has indicated that he will plead guilty. Because he does not have any prior convictions and he has indicated acceptance of responsibility, sentencing guidelines are expected to be 0-6 months, which would include the time Soto-Gomez has been detained since his federal indictment on April 16.

As for the DUI charges, Hess Graf said that even if the state proceedings are continued until the federal matter is resolved and Soto-Gomez is then deported again, the pending charge would flag if Soto-Gomez ever tries to illegally enter the country in the future.