A Honduran national living in the Springfield, Missouri area was sentenced in federal court for illegally reentering the United States after a previous felony conviction. Rubin Arturo Pinot-Banegas, 38, received a sentence of 10 months in prison without parole and one year of supervised release from U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool.
The case began on June 27, 2025, when officers from the Nixa Police Department responded to a two-car traffic accident. Five Honduran nationals were involved in the collision. Law enforcement identified Pinot-Banegas using his name and documents. He had a Honduran passport but no legal documentation permitting him to be in the United States.
Agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI-ICE) determined that Pinot-Banegas was present in the country illegally and had been removed from the United States four times previously: once each in 2007 and 2009, and again in 2015 and 2017.
Pinot-Banegas has prior convictions including domestic battery, a misdemeanor for illegal entry into the United States in 2015, and a felony for illegal reentry after deportation in 2017.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney prosecuted this case. The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security-Immigration and Customs Enforcement Removal Operations along with the Nixa Police Department.
According to the press release, “This case is part of Operation Take Back America, 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.”
