CINCINNATI – An illegal alien who was convicted locally of causing a head-on car crash that injured a Cincinnati Children’s Hospital nurse pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to illegally reentering the United States.
Johan Perez-Ventura, 27, was deported from the United States in February 2019 near Houston, Texas.
In November 2025, he was found by law enforcement in Butler County. Perez-Ventura was arrested on local charges after driving left of center and colliding with another vehicle. He was convicted at the local level in May 2026 of aggravated vehicular assault and sentenced to 54 months in prison.
The defendant has also been convicted of several other offenses, including assault and two convictions for operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs in October 2024 and September 2023.
Illegally reentering the United States is a federal crime punishable by up to two years in prison.
Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Kevin Raycroft, Acting Field Office Director, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Detroit Field Office; announced the guilty plea entered today before U.S. District Judge Jeffery P. Hopkins. Assistant United States Attorney Danielle E. Margeaux is representing the United States in this case.
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.
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Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — Southern District of Ohio — U.S. Department of Justice press release.