A Mexican national, Hugo Moreno-Mendez, 41, was found guilty in a federal bench trial in Waco for registration violations. The court sentenced Moreno-Mendez to time served for one count of willful failure to register and one count of failure to provide DNA.
Court documents show that Moreno-Mendez was previously convicted on September 26, 2024, for unlawfully installing a tracking device. He received a sentence of 180 days confinement for the state crime. On March 13, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took him into custody and charged him with willful failure to register. During processing, Moreno-Mendez refused to submit fingerprints and a DNA sample as required by standard immigration procedures, resulting in an additional charge.
Since his arrest in March, Moreno-Mendez has remained in federal custody. He will now be processed for removal from the United States.
U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas announced the verdict. ICE investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Smith-Burris prosecuted it.
The prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America, an initiative aimed at addressing illegal immigration and dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations through coordinated efforts by the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
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