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Previously deported convicted felon charged with illegally re-entering the US

INDIANAPOLIS - A previously deported criminal alien from El Salvador was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday for illegally re-entering the United States. The indictment resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

Jorge Alberto Lopez-Cordova, 32, was charged April 20 with illegally re-entering the United States as a convicted felon after having been previously deported.

The indictment alleges that Lopez-Cordova has a 2005 felony conviction for conspiracy to distribute cocaine in Floyd County, Ind. As a convicted felon, he was subsequently deported in 2008 to El Salvador. Lopez-Cordova was encountered March 25 in Clark County, Ind., without the consent of the U.S. Attorney General or the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to re-enter into the United States.

Anyone who re-enters the United States after being deported as a convicted felon commits another felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. If convicted, Lopez-Cordova also faces a maximum $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James M. Warden, Southern District of Indiana, is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.