Twice-deported Mexican national is sentenced to 46 months for illegal reentry

Subject was convicted in Rhode Island of child abuse

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A Mexican national was sentenced today for illegally reentering the U.S., after an investigation by agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Rhode Island.

A federal judge today sentenced Gustavo Granados, a citizen of Mexico, to 46 months in federal prison for illegally reentering the United States after being deported. Granados, 39, was convicted in 1992 in Rhode Island Family Court of second-degree child abuse, and was deported twice. His illegal status was discovered in January after a vehicle stop in East Providence.

United States Attorney Robert Clark Corrente and Bruce M. Foucart, special agent-in-charge of ICE's Office of Investigation in Boston, announced the sentence, which Senior U.S. District Court Judge Ernest C. Torres imposed in U.S. District Court, Providence. After his term in prison, Granados will again be subject to deportation.

"This case truly highlights the success of law enforcement coordination," said ICE Special Agent-in-Charge Foucart. "Thanks to the proactive efforts of the East Providence Police Department, a criminal illegal alien, who has abused a child, has been brought to justice. It is ICE's mission to protect national security and public safety, and the most effective way to do that is to assist and work with our local law enforcement partners."

Granados pleaded guilty in March to illegal reentry. At the plea hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra R. Beckner said the government could prove that Granados was deported as an aggravated felon in May 1995. After illegally reentering the country, he was deported again in October 1999, and illegally reentered again near Nogales, Ariz., in July 2005.

Granados was most recently living in an apartment on Mowry Street, Central Falls. In January, East Providence Police made a routine traffic stop of a car that Granados was driving and subsequently contacted ICE for an immigration check. ICE agents took custody of Granados on Jan. 15 and brought the case to the United States Attorney's Office for prosecution.