Juan Carlos Padilla Santos has been sentenced to 100 months in prison for illegally re-entering the United States after being deported twice and receiving a third removal order. The sentencing was announced by Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Ricky J. Patel, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York Field Office. U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick handed down the sentence.
Padilla Santos made false statements to immigration authorities and on a green card replacement form during his most recent illegal re-entry offense.
“Juan Carlos Padilla Santos was previously deported after he committed multiple serious drug offenses in the U.S.,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Like so many, Santos then deceitfully and illegally exploited our immigration system. Dangerous felons who return to this country illegally after being deported will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We thank the women and men of Homeland Security Investigations for their commitment to these matters.”
“Juan Carlos Padilla Santos exhibited time and time again his disregard for our immigration laws needed for public safety,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel. “With a history that includes murder, narcotics possession, and even apparently faking his own death, this defendant took repeated steps to illegally enter and re-enter the United States. Padilla Santos now faces a significant sentence for his actions.”
Court records show that Padilla Santos was first deported from the United States in 2010 following a conviction for conspiring to distribute narcotics, which resulted in nearly seven and a half years in prison. Less than a year later, he returned illegally and was ordered removed again in absentia.
In 2016, Padilla Santos was convicted of murder in the Dominican Republic with a 15-year sentence but did not serve it; instead, he returned once more to the United States unlawfully where he was convicted of cocaine possession and bail jumping in 2018 before being deported again.
Authorities report that Padilla Santos appeared to have falsified his death in the Dominican Republic in 2019 before returning yet again to the United States illegally in 2021. During this entry, he falsely claimed lawful permanent resident status with U.S Customs and Border Protection and submitted misleading information on an official green card replacement form.
In addition to serving over eight years in prison, Padilla Santos will be subject to three years of supervised release upon completion of his sentence.
Jay Clayton commended HSI New York’s investigative work as well as support from Enforcement and Removal Operations’ Criminal Prosecutions Unit, U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Office of Fraud Detection and National Security, and HSI Santo Domingo International Operations.
The prosecution is being managed by Assistant U.S Attorney Katherine Cheng from the General Crimes Unit.
