A 35 year-old man illegally present in the United States and residing in Johnston County, has been sentenced to 78 months in federal prison. Eduardo Aguilar Arellano of Mexico was sentenced Monday in federal court in New Bern.
On February 11, 2020, Aguilar-Arellano pled guilty to one count of illegal reentry of an aggravated felon.
According to court documents, Aguilar-Arellano was deported and removed from the United States on April 28, 2015, at El Paso, Texas, after having been convicted of the second-degree rape of a 14 year-old girl in April 2008 in Johnston County Superior Court. Earlier that year, the victim was at home alone when the suspect sexually assault her. He was captured two weeks later. Authorities said the crime was a random act. He was sentenced to 120 months in prison but was released early and deported in 2015.
Aguilar-Arellano was arrested in June 2018 after he was found living at an address on Elevation Road near Four Oaks. He was arrested at the time on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender. He was also detained by ICE for reentering the United States illegally.
Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel Diaz prosecuted the case.
