CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A Dominican Republic national who pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a firearm in 2017 was given one year in prison for returning to St. Thomas illegally.
Cristian Lopez-Moncion, 42, of the Santo Domingo, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Robert A.
Molloy to 12 months of incarceration on his conviction of illegal re-entry into the United States of
a removed alien, U.S. Attorney Delia L. Smith said today. He pleaded guilty to that charge on October 6, 2023.
According to court documents, on February 23, 2023, Lopez-Moncion was seen in the
vicinity of Emile Griffith Ballpark in St. Thomas by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
officer who was familiar with Lopez-Moncion and was aware of that he had been deported from
the United States in 2019. Further investigation confirmed that the individual in question was, in
fact, Lopez-Moncion. After his arrest on May 4, 2023, Lopez-Moncion admitted that he had been
deported from the United States.
The case was investigated by United States Customs and Border Protection, Homeland
Security Investigations and Department of Homeland Security Enforcement and Removal and was
prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Evan Rikhye.