A federal grand jury Thursday indicted a 51-year-old Mexican national on charges of being an illegal alien present in the United States after being convicted of a felony and removed from this country.
Abraham Moreno Garcia, aka Estevan Carvajal Villagomez and Carlos Daniel Lopez, was removed at least three times for illegally reentering the U.S., and has two felony convictions for illegally reentering the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Hawaii said in a news release.
During one of those attempts, Moreno Garcia used a Hawaii driver’s license as proof of citizenship.
Moreno Garcia was convicted in 2019 in Hawaii for illegal reentry and sentenced to five months in federal prison, and was then removed to Mexico in March of that year.
He reentered the U.S. illegally and was arrested on Hawaii island earlier this month.
If convicted, Moreno Garcia could face up to 10 years’ imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine.
A March 5 joint narcotics investigation identified a parcel containing narcotics headed to a Kailua-Kona address that was addressed to Abraham Garcia, according to a criminal complaint filed March 13 in U.S. District Court in Hawaii.
Officers involved in the investigation identified Moreno Garcia as a suspect.
Department of Homeland, Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Homeland Security Investigations agents made checks showing he did not have permission to be in the U.S.
HSI encountered Moreno Garcia on March 7 in Kailua- Kona and visually confirmed his identity.
HSI agents arrested him for being present without admission or parole. They found an identification card that matched his name, and obtained his fingerprints, which were a biometric match for fingerprints obtained in previous removals.
Moreno Garcia agreed to a recorded interview March 8 with HSI agents, and without a lawyer. He confirmed he was previously removed from the U.S. in 2002, 2003 and 2019, and recalled being told he could not return.
He said he most recently reentered in 2023 near San Ysidro, Calif.
HSI is investigating the case, which is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren Ching.
Other than his illegal reentries into the U.S., Moreno Garcia’s criminal history consists of drunken driving, driving without insurance, driving without a license and the like with four arrests in New Mexico from 1998 to 2000, and convictions for six incidents in Hawaii County from 2002 to 2019.
Most recently, on Sept. 3, Moreno Garcia was arrested by Hawaii County police for allegedly driving under the influence of an intoxicant, operating a motor vehicle without insurance, driving without a license, having an open container of liquor in a motor vehicle and false certificates.
Moreno Garcia was born in 1974 and in Sept. 20, 2002, falsely applied as a U.S. citizen for admission into the U.S. from Mexico at the Los Angeles International Airport Port of Entry, the complaint says.
He was arrested Sept. 20, 2002, processed and given a notice and order of expedited removal.
He also signed form I-296, which explains he was prohibited from entering or being in the U.S. for a period of five years from the date of departure. An immigration inspector also signed the form, which identified a flight departing Los Angeles as the method he was to depart this country.
But on Sept. 22, 2002, Moreno Garcia attempted to reenter the U.S. in a vehicle at the Columbus Port of Entry, New Mexico, by presenting a Hawaii state driver’s license with the name Carlos Daniel Lopez as proof of citizenship.
He was charged Sept. 23, 2002, by criminal complaint for violating reentry of a removed alien and false claim to U.S. citizenship. He entered into a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to the reentry charge.
On Feb. 5, 2003, he was ordered to a sentence of time served.
On Feb. 6, 2003, he was barred from returning to the U.S. for 20 years and was returned to Mexico.
On Feb. 22, 2019, Hawaii County police arrested him for driving with a suspended license and drunken driving, which came to the attention of ICE and Enforcement and Removal Operation.
On May 1, 2019, ERO administratively arrested Moreno Garcia in Kailua- Kona.
On May 9, 2019, HSI arrested Moreno Garcia for reentry of a removed alien, to which he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served.
On Oct. 8, 2019, Moreno Garcia was removed from the U.S. to Mexico at San Ysidro, Calif.
