Three men were sentenced this week in U.S. District Court in Seattle for drug trafficking and repeatedly returning to the U.S. after being removed, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd announced in a Department of Justice (DOJ) news release.
Defendant Marlon Arteaga-Calix, 42, a citizen of Honduras, was given a two-year sentence for illegally returning after removal. He was arrested while trying to flee from authorities at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and leading police on a footrace across Interstate 5. When arrested, Arteaga-Calix had fentanyl in his possession, according to the news release.
According to records filed in the case, this is Arteaga-Calix’s fourth federal prison sentence for returning after removal. He has convictions for multiple drug offenses involving cocaine, crack cocaine and fentanyl. He also was convicted of an assault on a healthcare worker. The DOJ stated he will likely be removed following his sentence.
On Monday, Aug. 24, Dimas Alexander Mejia Garah, 35, a citizen of Honduras, was sentenced to time served for his return after removal. Garah will now be returned to the custody of Snohomish County where he faces 40 months in prison for being arrested in connection with drug trafficking.
Mejia Garah was removed from the U.S. in 2009, twice in 2012, in 2014 and again in 2023. Mejia Garah has twice been convicted in Utah of trafficking narcotics and had another drug possession conviction in Colorado. At the time of his arrest in Snohomish County, there was a warrant for Mejia Garah’s arrest in California. Following his prison sentence in the drug case, Mejia Garah will likely be removed to Honduras again, the DOJ announced.
On Aug. 27, Yair Ramirez Aguilar, 32, a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced to time served for returning after removal. Ramirez Aguilar has illegally re-entered the U.S. four times after being removed. Over the last five years, Ramirez Aguilar has been repeatedly arrested for a variety of criminal offenses. In 2021, he was arrested by the Burien Police Department for DUI and first-degree negligent driving. In 2022 and 2023, he had arrests for physical control of vehicle under the influence, DUI and hit-and-run of an attended vehicle. He was convicted in 2025. He has a pending DUI charge from 2026. He also has pending domestic violence assault charges from arrests in 2024 and 2025.
Each of the cases were investigated by Homeland Security Investigations’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
