A Honduran national was sentenced on Mar. 10 in Kansas City, Missouri, for illegally possessing a firearm and reentering the United States after being deported.
Jhader Hernandez-Padilla, 33, received a sentence of 24 months in prison without parole from U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 13, 2025, to charges of being an alien in possession of a firearm and illegal reentry after deportation.
According to court documents, Hernandez-Padilla was stopped by Kansas City Police Department officers on May 13, 2025, for a traffic violation. He did not have a driver’s license and presented a Honduran passport instead. After granting permission for officers to search his vehicle, they found a loaded handgun between the driver’s seat and center console. Officers also discovered methamphetamine, suspected black-tar heroin, a digital scale, and unused plastic baggies that are commonly associated with drug distribution. Additional methamphetamine was found during a search incident to arrest. Hernandez-Padilla admitted he was in the country illegally and had been deported in 2019.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Kirkpatrick following investigations by the Kansas City Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Department of Homeland Security.
This prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America, described as “a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.” The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri supports community outreach programs addressing violent crime and drug trafficking according to its official website.
The office has locations in Kansas City, Jefferson City and Springfield according to its official website, operates under the U.S. Department of Justice according to its official website, handles federal prosecutions across 66 counties in western Missouri according to its official website, covers an area from Iowa to Arkansas borders according to its official website, and collaborates with various law enforcement partners according to its official website.
