Federal authorities in Miami have moved forward with criminal charges against nine individuals for a variety of immigration-related offenses, U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones announced this past Friday. The charges, handed down by a federal grand jury, target individuals from across the Caribbean and Central America following a series of apprehensions in South Florida over the last two months.
Among those named in the indictments is 24-year-old Lazaro Gaddiel Flores-Arita of Honduras. He was intercepted in Monroe County on January 20 and now faces allegations of possessing a firearm and ammunition as an unlawful alien.
If a jury finds him guilty, he could be sentenced to as many as 15 years in federal prison. In a separate case, 28-year-old Medinel Joseph of Haiti was charged with attempted illegal entry after arriving on the shores of Miami-Dade County in January. His charge carries a maximum penalty of six months.
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The remaining seven defendants are accused of unlawfully reentering or attempting to reenter the United States after having been previously deported. This group includes individuals with varied histories of prior removals.
Wendy Esmeralda Ponce-Hernandez, 30, of El Salvador, was located in Miami-Dade this January following a 2020 deportation. Yolander Ceeald Bish, 27, and Jean Woodley Franezy, 25, both of Jamaica, were also apprehended in January after being removed in 2025 and 2022, respectively. Guillermina Carolina Pimentel Lara, 30, of the Dominican Republic, was another individual found coming ashore last month after a 2023 deportation.
The legal stakes are significantly higher for those with prior criminal records. While standard illegal reentry carries a two-year maximum sentence, 46-year-old Rafael Corona-Mendez of Mexico faces up to 10 years due to previous convictions.
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Furthermore, Juan Carlos Rafael Avila, 36, and Sandro Boror-Rivera, 51, both face up to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors allege that their prior “aggravated convictions” qualify them for these increased maximum sentences. Records show Rafael Avila has been deported four times since 2011, while Boror-Rivera was previously removed in 2009 and 2020.
These cases are being spearheaded by the newly formed Border and Immigration Crimes Enforcement (BICE) Section. U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones established this unit to “strengthen South Florida’s border security posture, protect maritime and land points of entry, enforce federal immigration law, and dismantle transnational smuggling networks operating through the region.”
The BICE Section is designed to consolidate expertise in narcotics, fraud, and violent crime into a “single coordinated unit focused on border-driven threats.”
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