Judge sentences immigrant living illegally in Cape County to prison

A man living in the country illegally was sentenced Monday to 18 months in federal prison after he unlawfully re-entered the United States and was arrested in Cape Girardeau County.

Gabriel Santos-Caporal, 29, of Mexico was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Ross.

He pleaded guilty March 18 in U.S. District Court, federal prosecutors for the Eastern District of Missouri said in a news release.

Santos-Caporal admitted he was “an alien and was a citizen and native of Mexico” who was found in Cape Girardeau County after previously being deported, prosecutors said.

Santos-Caporal initially was deported in February 2011. He re-entered the United States illegally and was again deported Aug. 26, 2011.

On Oct. 26, an officer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was contacted by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Department, according to the news release.

Santos-Caporal had been arrested Sept. 7 in connection with a domestic assault, prosecutors said.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ICE and the sheriff’s department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Hahn prosecuted the case.