Postville Man Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Reentering the United States After Being Deported

A man who illegally returned to the United States after being deported was sentenced August 13, 2024, to more than three months in federal prison.

Alvaro Gomez-Lopez, age 35, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Postville, Iowa, received the prison term after a May 28, 2024, guilty plea to one count of illegal reentry into the United States after having been deported.

At the guilty plea, Gomez-Lopez admitted he had previously been deported from the United States and illegally reentered the United States without the permission of the United States government. Gomez-Lopez was previously deported in March 2006. On April 28, 2024, immigration officials learned Gomez-Lopez had illegally returned to the United States and found Gomez-Lopez at the Allamakee County Jail following his arrest on state charges. Immigration officials helped determine Gomez-Lopez's identity through fingerprints after he provided an alias name and date of birth when he was booked into the jail. In 2022, Gomez-Lopez was convicted in Allamakee County under the same alias name for interference with official acts.

Gomez-Lopez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Gomez-Lopez was sentenced to 104 days imprisonment. He must also serve a one-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Gomez-Lopez is being held in the United States Marshal's custody until he can be turned over to immigration officials.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.

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

The case file number is 24-CR-1014.

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