KC Reporter

A Mexican national living in Kansas City, Missouri, was sentenced in federal court for unlawfully reentering the United States after deportation and possessing a firearm as an illegal alien.

Omar Avila-Ramirez, 38, received a sentence of 15 months in federal prison without parole, followed by three years of supervised release. The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Howard F. Sachs.

Avila-Ramirez pleaded guilty on January 23, 2025, to both charges without a plea agreement. According to court documents, he was arrested by Lee’s Summit police officers on September 26, 2024. Officers stopped him while he was driving a van with license plates that belonged to a stolen truck. During the stop, Avila-Ramirez provided officers with a false name and claimed not to have identification. Police found a Phoenix Arms HP .22 caliber pistol loaded with six rounds of ammunition, including one in the chamber. Authorities noted that Avila-Ramirez had been removed from the country twice before and admitted to being in the United States illegally and not being allowed to possess a firearm.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Mahoney and investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations along with the Lee’s Summit Police Department.

This prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America, which is 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." According to officials, "Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN)."