After he pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault, the government wants to deport a Mexican sex offender for the third time.
Jose Luis Del Angel-Hernandez, 38, a Mexican citizen who lived in Peñitas, pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault, a first-degree felony, on Oct. 30.
He spent 339 days in jail while the first-degree felony charge remained pending, according to Hidalgo County court records.
State District Judge Robert Garza granted Del Angel deferred adjudication and placed him on probation for eight years. He must register as a sex offender and pay a $1,000 fine. The judge also dismissed another charge against Del Angel as part of a plea agreement.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Garza at the Hidalgo County jail on Halloween.
“Record checks revealed the defendant was formally removed from the United States to Mexico for the Second (2nd) time on April 30, 2016,” according to the federal criminal complaint against him.
Del Angel is charged with illegal re-entry.
The attorney who represents Del Angel on the federal charge didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors in the Southern District of Texas, which includes the Rio Grande Valley, handled 403 new immigration offenses in August — more immigration offenses than any other federal judicial district nationwide, according to the latest data published by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
The McAllen Division, which covers Hidalgo County and Starr County, handles a significant portion of the workload.
All three district judges at the federal courthouse in McAllen handled more than 50 new immigration offenses in August, placing them among the top 10 nationwide.
