Pedro Mendez-Garza/Guatemala/Cocaine Distribution

ICE agents apprehended Pedro Mendez-Garza in Oxford, Wisconsin. The Guatemala illegal alien faces charges of cocaine distribution and is subject to federal immigration enforcement.

Narcotics distribution and trafficking charges are among the most aggressively prosecuted offenses in the federal system, carrying mandatory minimum sentences that can result in years of prison time. Cases involving illegal aliens often move on two parallel tracks — criminal prosecution by federal or state attorneys, and a concurrent removal proceeding initiated by ICE that moves independent of the criminal case. Mendez-Garza faces potential consequences on two separate fronts regardless of how either case resolves.

Mendez-Garza has been placed in federal immigration detention and is scheduled to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge. If ordered removed, Mendez-Garza would be deported to Guatemala.