A man who illegally returned to the United States after being deported was sentenced today to more than four months in federal prison.
Mario Israel Ortiz-Gonzalez, age 22, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States and residing in Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 1, 2026, guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry into the United States after having been deported.
At the guilty plea, Ortiz-Gonzalez admitted he had previously been deported from the United States and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government. Ortiz-Gonzalez was previously deported in November 2025. On March 15, 2026, immigration officials learned Ortiz-Gonzalez had illegally returned to the United States and found him at the Dubuque County Jail following his arrest on state charges. Ortiz-Gonzalez has two previous convictions for operating while intoxicated and one conviction for interference with official acts.
Ortiz-Gonzalez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. He was sentenced to 124 days’ imprisonment. He must also serve a one-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Ortiz-Gonzalez is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be turned over to immigration officials.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl .
The case file number is 26-CR-1002.
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Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — Northern District of Iowa — U.S. Department of Justice press release.