NEW ORLEANS - A federal grand jury indicted Oscar Paz-Mejia, a 33-year-old Honduran national, for illegal reentry after deportation, United States Attorney David I. Courcelle announced. Paz-Mejia was found in the United States on May 26 after having been previously deported on or about May 24, 2023.
The charge, brought under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), carries up to ten years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, up to three years of supervised release, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee.
Courcelle credited U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Katherine Kaufman of the General Crimes Unit is handling the prosecution for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
The indictment was filed as part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative that, according to the department, “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, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.”
Courcelle noted that the indictment is a charge only and that the defendant’s guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. A trial date has not yet been set in the Eastern District of Louisiana.