Repeat Offender Pleads Guilty to Illegal Reentry

0:00It's April 9th. Hartford News Today starts now, AI-powered and ready. I'm Cory with the story. A 43-year-old Guatemalan national named Mario Romero Aragon, Ruano just pleaded guilty in federal court and Hartford to illegally re-entering. The United States after deportation, he's also known by aliases like Mario Romero Aragon and Jose Juana Zapata. This comes after a long history of bouncing back into the country, despite multiple removals. Earlier this week, he waived his rights to indictment during the hearing. Officials say he first got nabbed by Border Patrol in Arizona back in August 2006, got deported that same month and was told to stay out for five years, but he didn't listen and kept returning. His record includes a 2008 conviction for a federal murder for higher plot in New York, where he pulled 87 months in prison, before another deportation in September 2013. Then in July 2019, Border Patrol spotted him again in Arizona, leading to a 13-month

1:02sentence for reentry in 2000, 20 and a third trip back to Guatemala. Fast forward to January 10th this year, Waterbury Police arrested him on charges like first-degree criminal trespass and breach of peace, release on bond, immigration and customs enforcement picked him up two days later, and he's been detained ever since. Now he's spacing sentencing on July 1st, with up to 20 years on the table. Police is like this highlight the challenges of enforcing borders against repeat players who just won't quit.