Honduran national, illegally living in East Texas, indicted for unlawfully returning to the United States

TYLER, Texas – A Honduran national, illegally living in the Lufkin-area, has been charged with unlawfully returning to the United States, announced Eastern District of Texas U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs.

Edwin Padilla-Cruz, 42, was named in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury this week in the Eastern District of Texas charging him with illegal reentry by a previously deported alien.

The indictment alleges that Padilla-Cruz was found in the Eastern District of Texas after having been previously deported.

If convicted, Padilla-Cruz faces up to 20 years in federal prison and deportation.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that 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 (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Jackson.

A federal indictment is not evidence of guilt.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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