Sioux City, Iowa — A man who was arrested in O’Brien County and had illegally re-entered the United States was sentenced this week to 10 years in federal prison, in federal court in Sioux City.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, 38-year-old Miguel Rodriguez-Chavez, from Mexico, pleaded guilty in May to illegal re-entry as an aggravated felon.
The US Attorney’s Office says that at the plea and sentencing hearings, evidence showed that on April 21, 2021, Rodriguez-Chavez was arrested for domestic abuse assault in O’Brien County, using an alias. Shortly thereafter, the Department of Homeland Security Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement was able to determine his true identity, that he was a citizen of Mexico, and was previously removed from the United States on at least five occasions.
On May 8, 2021, Rodriguez-Chavez was arrested for operating while intoxicated. After serving a term of imprisonment for the domestic abuse assault and OWI convictions, he was turned over to federal custody.
The US Attorney’s Office tells us that Rodriguez-Chavez has a history of serious and violent crimes including attempted robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, domestic abuse assault, and committing offenses while in the prison system. Rodriguez-Chavez had been most recently removed in March 2020 and was under a three-year term of supervised release should he return to the United States. Due to the instant conviction and related criminal convictions, Rodriguez-Chavez was sentenced to two years imprisonment to be served consecutively with an eight-year sentence for the instant conviction.
Sentencing was held before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Rodriguez-Chavez was sentenced to a total of 10 years in federal prison and must serve a three-year term of supervised release following imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system.
