A Mexican national living in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, has been sentenced to three years and six months in federal prison without parole for illegally reentering the United States after a previous conviction for drug trafficking. Severo De La Torre-Sanchez, 61, will also serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes handed down the sentence. Authorities found De La Torre-Sanchez at a restaurant in Lee’s Summit on August 7, 2024, while attempting to serve him with an ex-parte order of protection. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents determined that he was in the country illegally after being removed from the United States twice before, once in 2020 and again in 2022.
De La Torre-Sanchez had previously served a 17-year federal sentence for drug trafficking in the Southern District of Georgia before his removal in 2020. In addition, he was convicted for Attempted Re-entry of a Removed Alien by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in 2022.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda K. Hanson prosecuted the case, which was investigated by Department of Homeland Security Customs and Immigration Enforcement.
This prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative led by the Department of Justice aimed at addressing illegal immigration and targeting cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
