Mexican Man Sentenced After Havre Encounter Reveals Fourth Border Crossing

GREAT FALLS — A Mexican man who entered the United States illegally four times since 2019 was sentenced Wednesday to time served and remanded to U.S. Customs and Border Protection upon release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme announced.

Odilon Valdes-De Jesus, 55, pleaded guilty in May to one count of illegal reentry. Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided over the sentencing.

The case marks another in a series of illegal reentry prosecutions involving individuals encountered in the Havre area. Earlier this month, Western Montana News reported on two similar cases involving men sentenced to time served for illegal reentry after traffic stops in Havre. Recent similar cases in the Havre area include Jose Luz Rojas-Flores, a 35-year-old Mexican man with multiple prior removals, and Enys Jose Rosales-Lara, a 39-year-old Honduran man, both sentenced to time served on July 7.

According to court documents, Valdes first entered the country without authorization in 2019. On October 3, 2019, he was encountered by El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents, processed for expedited removal, and removed from the United States on October 4, 2019, through the Calexico, California Port of Entry.

The removal pattern continued rapidly. Valdes crossed the border illegally again on October 5, 2019, and was removed from the United States a second time on October 6, 2019. He illegally entered again two days later, on October 8, 2019, and was removed for the third time on October 9.

When law enforcement encountered Valdes in Havre on May 13, 2025, he admitted he had no immigration documents to be in the United States legally. He later admitted he entered without authorization a fourth time around July 15, 2020, near Eagle Pass, Texas.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Myers prosecuted the case. The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Border Patrol.

The prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative that marshals federal resources to combat illegal immigration and eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations. The operation streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.