Border Patrol arrests Umatilla sex offender trying to re-enter U.S.

CALEXICO, Calif.-- U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the El Centro Sector arrested a man Monday, who had previously been deported due to a sex offense conviction.

According to a press release from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, remote video surveillance operators spotted a man suspected of illegally entering the United States about 12 miles east of the Calexico West Downtown Port of Entry on April 22, 2020.

Border Patrol agents took the man into custody and conducted an immigration and criminal history screening before transporting him to a holding station.

A records check found that the man, identified as Gildardo Escobedo-Salazar, 29, had a conviction on July 18, 2016 for Third Degree Sex Abuse out of Umatilla County, Oregon. Escobedo-Salazar had been sentenced to six months in jail, and 36 months of probation, but was ordered removed from the United States on November 21, 2018.

Escobedo is being held in federal custody, and could face new criminal charges.