Rock Rapids Man Sentenced to Federal Prison For Re-entry of a Removed Alien After Aggravated Felony and Failure to Register as a Sex Offender

A man who re-entered the country as an aggravated felon, failed to register as a sex offender, and violated his supervised release was sentenced September 6, 2024, to 21 months in federal prison.

Melvin Geovani Aguilar-Lopez, age 31, from Rock Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a May 3, 2024, guilty plea to one count of illegal re-entry as an aggravated felon; a May 17, 2024, guilty plea to one count of failure to update his registration as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a); and a May 17, 2024, admission to violations of his supervised release.

At a plea hearing, Aguilar-Lopez admitted to re-entering the country after being deported in April of 2023, after a conviction for re-entry of a removed alien convicted of an aggravated felony in the Southern District of Texas. On December 9, 2016, the defendant was convicted in the Iowa District Court for Lyon County for Sex Abuse in the Third Degree, a Class C felony in Case No. FECR005748.

In a plea agreement, Aguilar-Lopez admitted that he was required to register and update his registration under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act by reason of a conviction of Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree in the Iowa District Court for Lyon County Criminal No. FECR005748 on December 9, 2016. Aguilar-Lopez admitted he knew he needed to update his sex offender registration to reflect the fact he had been living in Rock Rapids for approximately 5 months and working in Lyon County for approximately 2 months. Aguilar-Lopez also admitted to violations of his supervised release.

Aguilar-Lopez was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Aguilar-Lopez was sentenced to 21 months' imprisonment. He must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Fletcher and was investigated by the Lyon County Sheriff's Department, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations (Sex Offender Unit) and the United States Marshal's Service.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 24-CR-04004 and 23-Cr-4077.

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