11/12/17 — Illegal immigrant found in county is indicted

View Archive

Illegal immigrant found in county is indicted

By Ethan Smith
Published in News on November 12, 2017 3:05 AM

A federal grand jury in Raleigh indicted a Guatemala native found in Wayne County on charges of false representation of a Social Security account number and aggravated identity theft.

Maria Asuncion Lucas-Mendez, 31, would face up to seven years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and a term of supervised release following imprisonment if convicted on the charge.

The U.S. Attorney General's Office of the Eastern District of North Carolina announced Lucas-Mendez's indictment alongside eight other indictments accusing people found in counties surrounding Wayne of illegal reentry to the nation.

Jose Raudilio Acosta-Hernandez, 28, of Honduras; Saul Cisneros-Franco, 52, of Mexico; Agripino Crisostomo-Lopez, 38, of Guatemala; Jorge Gomez-Perez, 48, of Mexico; Jose Quinvero, 36, of El Salvador; Mario Santana, 29, of Mexico; Jose Carmen Soto, 44, of Mexico; and Victoriano Valenzuela-Rojas were each indicted with illegal reentry of a deported alien.

They were found by authorities in Robeson, Pitt, Pender, Wake, Sampson, Harnett, Wilson and Duplin counties.

All but Cisneros-Franco would face a maximum of two years' imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and supervised release following imprisonment if convicted on the charges.

Cisneros-Franco, found in Wilson County, was allegedly previously deported after being convicted on aggravated felony charges of trafficking in a controlled substance and illegal reentry of an aggravated felon.

He would face up to 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and supervised release if convicted of the most recent charge.

These cases are all being investigated by ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations.