Federal grand juries in the Northern District of Ohio have indicted five men on charges related to immigration law violations. Four of the individuals are from Honduras and one is from Mexico. Authorities state that these cases are unrelated.
Marcos Bardales-Lopez, 26, Rigoberto Gomez-Arguijo, 45, and Oscar Mendoza, 52—all citizens of Honduras—were each charged with illegal reentry after having previously been removed from the United States. Bardales-Lopez was most recently deported on December 6, 2019, and found in Maumee, Ohio on January 12. Gomez-Arguijo’s last removal occurred on October 28, 2010; he was located in Marion on January 8. Mendoza had last been deported on January 17, 2008; he was also found in Maumee on January 12.
Jimy Antonio Portillo-Ramirez, a Honduran citizen aged 23, and Jose Alfredo Reyes-Gonzalez, a Mexican citizen aged 33, were both charged with two counts of possession of a fraudulent identification document. Portillo-Ramirez was found in Vickery (Sandusky County) on January 6 while Reyes-Gonzalez was located in Oak Harbor (Ottawa County) on January 18.
The U.S. Border Patrol-Sandusky Bay Station and Immigration and Customs Enforcement led the investigations for these cases.
Assistant United States Attorneys Ava Rotell Dustin, Dexter L. Phillips, and Frank H. Spryszak are prosecuting the cases for the Northern District of Ohio.
According to authorities: “An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”
These indictments fall under Operation Take Back America—a nationwide Department of Justice initiative focused on addressing illegal immigration as well as criminal organizations that cross borders.
