A Guatemalan man living in Waterloo, Iowa, has been sentenced to federal prison for illegally reentering the United States after being deported three times. Fidel Ramos-Ramos, 38, pleaded guilty on June 13, 2025, to one count of illegal reentry into the United States after having been previously deported.
According to court records, Ramos-Ramos admitted that he had returned to the United States without government permission after being deported in 2012, 2014, and 2017. He most recently reentered the country in Texas in January 2024. Immigration officials discovered his presence on April 18, 2025, when they found him at the Black Hawk County Jail following his arrest on a state warrant. Ramos-Ramos also has a prior conviction for illegal entry in the District of Arizona, where he served a 30-day prison sentence before being deported again.
United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams sentenced Ramos-Ramos in Cedar Rapids to 98 days in prison and ordered him to serve a one-year term of supervised release following his incarceration. There is no parole available in the federal system.
“This case is part of Operation Take Back America,” according to the press release. “Operation Take Back America is a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).”
The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt. The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Enforcement and Removal Operations.
More information about Operation Take Back America can be found at https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline.
