DEL RIO, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Two convicted sex offenders were arrested shortly after illegally crossing into the United States, authorities said.
On Jan. 9, U.S. Border Patrol agents detained Roberto Carlos Bonilla-Ponce, 40, and another person for “attempting to avoid detection” in Spofford.
Upon further investigation, it was discovered that Bonilla-Ponce was a Honduran national convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child in 2002. He was sentenced to five years in confinement for the crime. In 2013 and 2017, he was convicted again for re-entry after deportation.
In 2020, he was deported yet again, authorities said.
On Jan. 11, agents in Eagle Pass apprehended 10 migrants including Saul Macias-Espinosa, 50, a Mexican national, who had two previous felony convictions out of Los Angeles.
In 1999, Macias-Espinosa was convicted of rape of spouse under a controlled substance and possession of narcotics/controlled substance in 2000. He was sentenced to three years confinement for his first offense and two years confinement for the second, authorities said.
His most recent deportation was in 2002, they added.
Both Bonilla-Ponce and Macias-Espinosa face a charge of re-entry after deportation, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
