A Brazilian illegal immigrant caught in Maine in May following a deportation four years ago will now face no additional jail-time after a U.S. District Judge in Bangor sentenced him on Friday to time served.
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Americo Lopes-Da Silva, 37, pleaded guilty in May to illegally re-entering the U.S. after having been previously deported in 2021.
In early April, a Border Patrol agent from the Rangeley Border Patrol Station in Dallas Plantation, Maine was engaged in a routine patrol when he encountered a white van with Massachusetts plates registered to an individual who entered the U.S. legally in 2018, but who had overstayed his visa.
The agent initiated a stop, and both individuals, an unnamed driver and Da Silva, admitted that they were illegally present in the U.S. It is unclear whether Da Silva had entered illegally via the Maine border shortly before he was arrested, or whether he had been in the U.S. for a longer period and was in Maine for other purposes.
The agent transported the men back to the Border Patrol station, where he discovered that Da Silva had previously been deported in 2021.
U.S. District Judge in Bangor John A. Woodcock, Jr., appointed under former President George W. Bush, sentenced Da Silva to time served, meaning that he will spend no additional time in prison following his sentencing.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not specify whether Da Silva will be deported again. The Maine Wire reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to inquire whether he has again been deported, but they did not immediately respond.
