The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio has announced recent immigration enforcement actions involving three individuals in separate cases.
Francisco Gonzalez-Lopez, a 35-year-old citizen of Guatemala, faces one count of illegal reentry. Authorities state that Gonzalez-Lopez was previously removed from the United States on November 15, 2017. He was found again in Poland Township, Ohio on June 12, 2025, without official permission to return. The investigation was led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Department of Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Rolph is prosecuting the case.
In another case, Jaime Ortega-Urquidi, a 63-year-old citizen of Mexico, has been charged with illegal reentry after having been removed from the country multiple times, most recently on October 10, 2017. On May 28, 2025, he was located in Lorain, Ohio without authorization to be present in the United States. Ortega-Urquidi also faces charges for possession with intent to distribute cocaine; court documents indicate that investigators found nearly five pounds of cocaine in his possession. Additionally, he is charged with an enhanced penalty due to a prior serious drug felony conviction from 2014. This case involved investigations by U.S. Border Patrol-Sandusky Bay Station, FBI Cleveland Division and Lorain Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Lewis.
A third individual, Edil A. Martinez-Padilla—a 38-year-old citizen of Honduras—was sentenced to time served after pleading guilty to illegal reentry before U.S. District Judge David A. Ruiz. Martinez-Padilla had previously been removed twice from the United States—the last time on April 24, 2013—and remains detained pending deportation proceedings. ICE-HSI conducted the investigation leading up to his indictment; Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter E. Daly prosecuted the case.
Authorities emphasized that indictments are not evidence of guilt and all defendants are entitled to fair trials where “it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” Sentencing will take into account each defendant’s prior criminal record and other relevant factors.
These cases fall under Operation Take Back America—a national effort by the Department of Justice aimed at addressing illegal immigration and targeting cartels and transnational criminal organizations as well as violent crime perpetrators across communities.
