El Salvadorian man sentenced to 12 years for immigration violations in East Texas

TYLER, Texas ( KETK ) – An El Salvadorian man was sentenced to nearly 12 years of federal prison on Thursday for immigration violations.

According to a release, Robert Daniel Argueta-Lopez, 51, pleaded guilty to being in the U.S. illegally and was sentenced to serve 140 months of federal prison.

According to U.S. Attorney Damien Diggs, on July 9, 2022 law enforcement stopped a car in Van Zandt County where Argueta-Lopez was arrested on state charges. Prosecutors said that after he was booked into the Van Zandt County Jail, federal law enforcement found that he was in the country illegally.

According to prosecutors, a federal investigation found that Argueta-Lopez was a citizen of El Salvador and had been previously deported from the U.S. three times prior to his arrest, in 2007, 2012 and 2021.

The report said that Argueta-Lopez’s first removal followed a conviction for murder in 1994 from Tarrant County, his second removal followed a conviction for illegal reentry in 2008 and his third removal followed a conviction for assault of a federal officer from the Southern District of Texas in 2013.

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