Previously Deported Sex Offenders Arrested After Crossing Arizona Border

Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a pair of previously deported sex offenders after they illegally crossed the Mexican border into Arizona. The arrests came in separate incidents.

On the night of December 27, Tucson Sector agents apprehended a man after he illegally crossed the border from Mexico. The agents transported the man to the Border Patrol station for processing and a biometric criminal background investigation.

During the investigation, the agents identified the man as 40-year-old Manuel Todelo-Gebara, a previously deported Mexican national. A check of the illegal alien’s criminal history uncovered a conviction by a Cook County, Illinois, court for sexual assault. The court sentenced the criminal alien to five years in state prison. Immigration officers deported Todelo-Gebara to Mexico following the completion of his prison term, officials stated. He now faces federal prosecution for illegal re-entry after removal as a sex offender.

Tucson Sector agents stopped another previously deported sex offender from successfully making his way back into the U.S. on Sunday, officials stated.

Agents observed a man crossing the border illegally near Palominas.
The investigation identified the man as 46-year-old Milton Portilla-Moscoso, a citizen of Ecuador. The agents searched for criminal records on the illegal alien and discovered a conviction by a Dallas County, Texas, court in 2011 for sexual assault.

The Texas court sentenced the man to eight years of probation. Immigration officers removed Portilla-Moscoso to Ecuador following his conviction.

The criminal alien from Ecuador now faces possible federal prosecution for illegal re-entry after removal as a sex offender.

If either man is convicted on the felony charges, they could face up to 20 years in federal prison.

During Fiscal Year 2019, Tucson Sector agents stopped 195 illegal immigrants with significant criminal histories from successfully making their way back into the U.S. interior, officials stated.