Deportee Returns, Faces Federal Charges

0:00It's April 28th, I'm Cory with the story, and this is Hartford News Today, local news powered by AI. A 27-year-old Guatemalan man in Hartford faces federal charges for sneaking back into the U.S. after two deportations. Joni, Galeano, Lopez, Garcia, also known as Joni Lopez-Garcia, got hit with illegal reentry counts right after posting bond on state assault charges. Back in November of 2017, Border Patrol caught him in Arizona and shipped him to Guatemala the next month, with a five-year. No return warning. He crossed over again in January of 2018, got convicted in Texas Federal Court and was deported once more in February, this time, banned, for 20 years. Hartford cops nabbed him on November 27th, 2025, for serious stuff, like first-degree assault, conspiracy, and weapons. He used his alias during that bust, and now fits say he ignored the bans and came back

1:00illegally anyway. Just this week, after a state release, a federal magistrate ordered him held without bond. Officials are pushing the case hard, highlighting repeat border violations tied to local violence. This saga shows how past deportations don't always stick, leaving communities to deal with a fallout as the legal wheels turn.