Four people charged with federal immigration violations in Ohio

OHIO — The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio has announced federal immigration charges against four defendants in separate cases.

Federal authorities arrested Alberto Caiceros-Cruz, 40, after observing him leave his Columbus residence and drive a vehicle without registration.

Caiceros-Cruz, a Mexican national, had previously been removed from the U.S. in 2022.

On Tuesday, a federal grand jury in Columbus indicted Carlos Gonzales-Hernandez, 55, a national of El Salvador, for illegally reentering the U.S. after serving a local prison sentence for sex offenses.

Gonzales-Hernandez was detained in January following a traffic stop in Madison County and transferred into ICE custody.

He had previously been convicted in Franklin County of three counts of gross sexual imposition and sentenced to six years in prison.

The grand jury also indicted Elmer Edison Rodriguez-Guzman, 46, a Honduran national, for illegal possession of firearms. Rodriguez-Guzman was stopped in Cambridge, Ohio, in July 2024 for driving without taillights.

Authorities found a handgun, a double-barrel shotgun, and ammunition in his vehicle. He was arrested in Guernsey County and later transferred to federal custody.

On Thursday, a federal grand jury indicted Pedro Marquez, 34, who is also known by multiple aliases.

Marquez was previously convicted in 2011 for participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy in the Eastern District of Oklahoma and for illegally reentering the U.S.

He was sentenced to federal prison and removed from the country again in 2016. Law enforcement arrested him in Bloomingburg, Ohio, on Feb. 13.

Illegal reentry into the U.S. is a federal crime punishable by up to two years in prison.

The sentence increases to 10 years for those with prior felony convictions and up to 20 years for individuals previously convicted of aggravated felonies.

The charges were announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Kelly A. Norris, along with officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tyler J. Aagard, Sheila G. Lafferty, and David J. Twombly are prosecuting the cases.

These prosecutions are part of the Southern District of Ohio Immigration Enforcement Task Force, which focuses on investigating and prosecuting immigration violations.

All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.