ICE arrests alien wanted for homicide in Guatemala

BALTIMORE – A Guatemalan man wanted for homicide and attempted homicide in his native country was arrested July 13 in Annapolis by an Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) fugitive operations team assigned to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices in Baltimore.

Guatemalan authorities recently provided the ICE attaché office in Guatemala with a warrant charging Fredy Mariony Alvarado-Calderon, a previously removed alien with multiple felony convictions in the United States, with killing or attempting to kill an individual by shooting him with a firearm on Oct. 13, 2016, in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. ICE authorities in Guatemala also obtained information related to Alvarado-Calderon’s whereabouts and his known aliases.

“Aliens escaping prosecution overseas by hiding inside the United States are key targets for enforcement action by Enforcement and Removal Operations officers,” said Dorothy Herrera-Niles, the field office director for ERO Baltimore. “The coordination between Guatemalan and U.S. law enforcement illustrates the speed with which ERO can react to arrest criminals attempting to use the United States as a safe haven.”

Alvarado-Calderon was initially encountered by U.S. Border Patrol near Laredo, Texas, on May 27, 2001. He was placed in removal proceedings, issued a final order of removal on Oct. 1, 2001, and was removed from the United States on April 26, 2007. As a fugitive alien, he was convicted of assault in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on March 9, 2006; and convicted of two felonies in New Jersey on July 28, 2006, before being apprehended by ERO officers in New Jersey.

Alvarado-Calderon last entered the United States at an unknown location without being admitted or paroled after inspection by an immigration officer. He was subsequently convicted of battery in Cook County, Illinois, on Nov. 26, 2008. He currently has active warrants for arrest out of Trenton, New Jersey.

Alvarado-Calderon was processed for reinstatement based on his prior final order of removal, and is currently being detained at the Howard County Detention Center in Maryland pending his removal to Guatemala. ICE ERO is reviewing the case to determine if referring criminal charges of unlawful reentry after a removal to the assistant U.S. attorney in Maryland is appropriate. 

Depending on the alien’s criminal history, an alien who illegally reenters the United States, after having been previously removed, has committed a felony punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.

In fiscal year 2016, ICE removed or returned 240,255 individuals. Of this total, 174,923 were apprehended while, or shortly after, attempting to illegally enter the United States. The remaining 65,332 were apprehended in the interior of the United States, and the vast majority were convicted criminals.

ICE is focused on removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws, including those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.