The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

February 22, 2008

Feds charge 2 Mexican men with illegally re-entering U.S.

By Joe Pinchot

MERCER COUNTY — U.S. officials filed complaints Wednesday against two men who were arrested in Mercer County for immigration violations.

Santiago Fortozo-Melendez and Gustavo Miranda-Cabrera, both of Mexico, were encountered on different days by state police. They were charged with re-entry of a deported alien.

Fortozo-Melendez, 32, was driving a van stopped at 11:17 a.m. Feb. 3 for changing lanes without using a turn signal on Interstate 80 westbound in Findley Township, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.

Fortozo-Melendez, who has three aliases, admitted not being in the country legally, which police confirmed later, Immigration said. He had been deported from the U.S. to Mexico June 5, 2006, at Douglas, Ariz., Immigration said.

In a statement to Immigration, Fortozo-Melendez said he entered the U.S. March 15 near Nogales, Ariz., to take care of his daughter, who lives in Chicago with her godmother, Immigration said. He had been working in Chicago as a landscaper, and borrowed a friend’s van to visit family in New York when he was arrested.

Miranda-Cabrera was identified as the driver of a sport-utility vehicle found Tuesday on the side of Interstate 80 at an undisclosed location in Mercer County, Immigration said.

The van had a flat and no spare, Immigration said. Three others also were in the van, and nobody had immigration documents or passports, Immigration said.

Miranda-Cabrera had been ordered deported June 2, 2007, although details of the action were not disclosed in the Immigration complaint, and he returned to the U.S. without permission seven or eight months go, Immigration said.

Miranda-Cabrera was cited by state police for driving without a license and paid a fine, Immigration said.

Both men face detention hearings Monday.

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