Dominican Republic Citizen Sentenced for Illegal Re-entry into the United States

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - Carlos Manuel Valdez, 40, of the Dominican Republic, was sentenced yesterday to serve sixty months imprisonment for illegally reentering the United States after having been previously convicted of an aggravated felony.

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent in Charge of United States Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Buffalo Field Office, and Broome County Sheriff Frederick Akshar II made the announcement.

As part of his guilty plea, Valdez admitted that prior to being deported to his home country in 2019, he had been convicted of a number of Massachusetts state felony offenses, including assaulting a police officer and possessing narcotics with the intent to distribute them.

In February 2023, Valdez was discovered in Broome County, New York, in a vehicle that also contained over a kilogram of fentanyl. Valdez was charged for the narcotics by New York State authorities in Broome County and was sentenced to serve 6 years' imprisonment in state court.

Valdez was ordered to serve 30 months of his federal sentence consecutively, meaning that 30 months of Valdez's federal sentence will not begin until after he has fully satisfied his New York State sentence of incarceration.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement- Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations, and the Broome County Special Investigations Unit Task Force (which is comprised of personnel from the Broome County Sheriff's Office, City of Binghamton Police Department, and Johnson City Police Department) investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Gillis prosecuted the case.