Foreign nationals sentenced for illegal reentry, fraudulent immigration documents

The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday sentenced four foreign nationals, two of whom admitted to illegal reentry and two for possession of fraudulent immigration documents, to time served in prison and remanded them to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, according to the Montana U.S. Attorney’s office.

U.S. District Judge Brian M. Molloy presided over all four cases.

Two Mexican citizens, Francisco Alcocer-Sanchez, 62, and Luis Alberto Vega-Lili, 57, pleaded guilty in May 2025 to single counts of use or possession of fraudulent immigration documents.

According to press releases from the U.S. Attorney’s office, law enforcement made contact with Vega-Lili on a train in Havre in March.

The government alleged in court documents that when Vega-Lili spoke to Border Patrol agents, he acknowledged his Mexican citizenship and that he did not have immigration paperwork to enter or remain in the United States. He provided a Mexican passport issued in North Carolina.

Further investigation by law enforcement found that in 2008, Vega-Lili submitted an incomplete application for naturalization because he was married to a U.S. citizen, but she since passed away, per the U.S. Attorney’s office.

The government further alleged that during a security search of Vega-Lili’s cell, agents found a fraudulent Social Security card and fraudulent permanent resident card in the sole of his boot containing information belonging to a person from India, born in 1973 and living in Texas.

In the other case, court documents say that law enforcement agents arrested Acocer-Sanchez on Feb. 28, in Fairview, Montana/McKenzie County, North Dakota during a DUI stop. Alcocer-Sanchez provided an expired licensed permanent resident card with his picture, but another name and alien number. Law enforcement noticed the card was missing security features and the next day verified his true identity and a prior removal from the United States. He later acknowledged his Mexican citizenship and and illegal status in America.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Alcocer-Sanchez’s immigration history shows he was granted status as a lawful permanent resident on Feb. 12, 1991, but that status was revoked on June 25, 1998, following his conviction for importing cocaine, an aggravated felony. There is no record he applied for readmission into the United States.

The two men were sentenced to time served of 121 and 131 days in prison, respectively, and remanded to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol upon release, according to U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme.

In two additional Monday press releases, Alme said that two foreign nationals had been sentenced to time served for illegal reentry and also remanded to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

A Mexican citizen, Jose Luz Rojas-Flores, 35, and a Honduran citizen, Enys Jose Rosales-Lara, 39, each pleaded guilty in May to one count of illegal reentry.

According to court documents, Rojas-Flores was removed from the United States in 2012, again in 2013 after serving a 30-day sentence for illegal reentry, and again in 2015 after serving a 60-day sentence.

The press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said that in April 2025, the Havre Police Department encountered five individuals during a traffic stop, none of whom spoke English and all of which had Mexican identification documents. Rojas-Flores had no documents permitting him to enter or remain in the U.S., and he later admitted to crossing into the country near El Paso, Texas, in 2020.

According to Alme, also in April, law enforcement conducting a traffic stop in Havre found Rosales-Lara, who possessed a Honduran Identification Card but no additional documents. He admitted to entering the U.S. in late 2023 near El Paso, Texas, and that he had no lawful right to remain in the United States.

The two men were sentenced to time served of 73 and 74 days, respectively, according to Alme.

The two cases were part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that mandates 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 violent crime.”