Federal law enforcement has arrested and charged an undocumented immigrant living in Island Lake who has multiple prior deportations and felony convictions, including for child rape.
Salvador Guerrero-Lopez, also known as Jovani Hernandez Pina, was indicted on Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago on one count of unlawful reentry after removal.
Guerrero-Lopez, a 42-year-old Mexican national residing in Island Lake, was deported from the United States to Mexico in 2004, 2011 and 2021.
The deportations came after criminal convictions for two separate cases of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor in California and a case in Arkansas for narcotics distribution, according to a criminal complaint.
The narcotics case involved federal charges for possession with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of a mixture containing methamphetamine.
Guerrero-Lopez was arrested in Island Lake on May 26 by federal law enforcement after they learned he was back in the United States.
The arrest came after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Eagle Pass, Texas, requested assistance from federal law enforcement in the Chicago area to locate and apprehend him.
Guerrero-Lopez was being investigated in Texas for federal child exploitation and alien smuggling crimes, the complaint said.
HSI learned that Guerrero-Lopez had arranged for the smuggling and illegal entry of a minor female, a Mexican national, into the United States from Mexico.
Guerrero-Lopez enticed the girl to send him sexually explicit images of herself through a phone messaging app, the complaint said.
On the day of his arrest, law enforcement were surveilling Guerrero-Lopez’s suspected residence, an apartment complex in Island Lake, after they obtained a warrant for him.
The complaint said a male Hispanic resembling Guerrero-Lopez exited the building and walked into the parking lot.
Agents believed it to be Guerrero-Lopez based on booking photos and they moved in to apprehend him.
His identity was confirmed using facial recognition and Guerrero-Lopez admitted he was in the United States illegally, the complaint said.
He was transported to a facility in Broadview for processing and a fingerprint analysis also confirmed his identity. Guerrero-Lopez was then transported to a jail in Indiana by ICE.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois said in a statement that Guerrero-Lopez’s arrest 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.”
The unlawful reentry charge is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Guerrero-Lopez will also be subject to deportation upon conviction.
An arraignment hearing in federal court in Chicago has not been scheduled yet for Guerrero-Lopez.