Illegal Alien Sentenced to 63 Months in Prison on Firearms and Drug Trafficking Charges

SHREVEPORT, La. – A Mexican national was sentenced to 63 months in prison for possessing a firearm, possessing marijuana with intent to distribute, and illegally reentering the country, U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today.

Jose Luis Ariciaga-Banda, 28, of Mexico, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter for one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon, one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by an illegal alien, one count of possession with the intent to distribute marijuana, and one of count illegal reentry into the United States after deportation. According to evidence presented at the guilty plea on March 18, 2014, Louisiana State Troopers stopped the truck Ariciaga-Banda was driving on Mansfield Road in Shreveport for a traffic violation on August 7, 2013. He was found to be a Mexican citizen and illegally in the United States. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent arrived at the scene and placed him under arrest. A search warrant was also obtained and executed, and a 9 mm pistol, ammunition, money and approximately 18 pounds of marijuana were found at Ariciaga-Banda’s residence.

The defendant was previously convicted in September of 2008 for possession of cocaine in Caddo Parish District Court. In November of 2010, he was convicted in federal court of two counts of possession of a firearm by an alien illegally in the United States and a count of illegal reentry after his deportation from the United States.

After Ariciaga-Banda was sentenced for his most recent crimes, a hearing was held and his supervised release from his 2010 convictions was revoked by Judge Walter. Ariciaga-Banda was sentenced to 24 month in prison, 12 months of which will be served consecutively. Ariciaga-Banda’s total term of imprisonment is 75 months.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Louisiana State Police, the Caddo Parish Sheriff-Shreveport Police Drug Task Force, and the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert W. Gillespie Jr. prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide program designed to reduce violence by aggressively enforcing existing federal firearms laws.