Deported sex offender indicted for re-entry to US (AP c/o Miami Herald)

Deported sex offender indicted for re-entry to US
Posted on Monday, 01.25.10

MIAMI -- Immigration authorities say a deported sex offender has been indicted on charges of re-entering the U.S.

A statement released Monday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said 30-year-old Celestino Ramirez-Hernandez was convicted in 2001 of statutory rape of a child under the age of 16. He served his sentence on probation and was deported to Mexico in 2002.

He returned to the U.S. on an unknown date. Using an alias, he was convicted of grand theft and possession of stolen-forged driver's license. Authorities then found out he was a convicted sex offender.

He was serving a four-year sentence in Miami for failure to register as a sex offender when immigration enforcement agents arrested him on Jan. 11.

If convicted, Ramirez-Hernandez faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.