MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 29-year-old man pleaded guilty in a federal court Monday to entering the U.S. illegally after being deported as a criminal.

Hugo Beltran-Aragon entered in a plea agreement by admitting that on June 8, 2010, he was found in the U.S. illegally after having been previously deported in 2003, after he was convicted in Hennepin County for third-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Beltran-Aragon faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. Davis will determine his sentence at a future hearing.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Brooklyn Park Police Department and ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations.

On September 6, 2012, 49-year-old Juan Manuel Maciel Ramos was sentenced to 24 months in prison on one count of unlawful reentry after removal. In his plea agreement, Ramos admitted that on December 5, 2011, he was found in the U.S. illegally after having been previously deported in 2006, following a California conviction for burglary.

The Prior Lake Police Department arrested Ramos at Mystic Lake Casino for drug possession. He was sentenced in Scott County for third-degree possession before being turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

On September 5, 2012, U.S. District Court Judge David S. Doty sentenced Jose Salgado-Virgil, age 31, to 45 months in prison on one count of unlawful reentry after removal. In his plea agreement, Salgado-Virgil admitted that on February 23, 2012, he was found in the U.S. illegally after having been previously deported following a conviction for assault in the third degree.

Salgado-Virgil was in the Lyon County jail when authorities identified him as an illegal alien with a criminal record with the help of the ICE Criminal Alien Program. The program’s goal is to locate criminal aliens incarcerated in federal and state prisons, as well as local jails, and prevent them from being released by having them federally prosecuted for illegal reentry

In some instances, federal prosecution occurs only after the individual has been prosecuted for the recent underlying offense.

Both the Ramos and Salgado-Virgil cases were the result of investigations by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations. They were prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin P. Johnson.