see also: in July 2008:   CBP Discovers 2.7 Tons of Marijuana on Cargo Box Truck   Holiday Travel Reminder for Northwest Border Crossers   Current, Former CBP Employees Assist in Arrest of Purse Snatchers   CBP Officers Arrest Man Wanted for Failure to Register as Sex Offender   California SENTRI Participant in Hot Water, CBP Finds Dope in Vehicle   CBP Officers Arrest Man Wanted for Aggravated Sexual Assault on Minor   CBP Revokes Trusted Traveler Privileges After Finding Prohibited Items During Inspection ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

contacts for this news release

Aguadilla, P.R. - Two convicted felons were recently sentenced by a U.S. District Court judge for illegally re-entering the island of Puerto Rico after having been previously deported. The defendants were arrested by Border Patrol agents upon illegally entering Puerto Rico.

Ricardo Brito-Morla and Gabriel Rodriguez-Rosario, citizens of the Dominican Republic, were sentenced to 12 and 18 months of imprisonment respectively. Both subjects also received three years of supervised release.

Brito-Morla, had been previously convicted under local law for domestic violence, threat and abuse and served nine months in a Puerto Rico jail before being deported. Brito-Morla had illegally entered the island on three previous occasions, before he was apprehended by Border Patrol agents along with 17 other illegal aliens off the coast of Cabo Rojo.

Rodriguez-Rosario was among 22 Dominican nationals intercepted in the Mona Passage. Rodriguez-Rosario had been previously convicted for various felonies ranging from assault and battery, and illegally entering the island in two previous occasions.

“These convictions are the by-product of a collaborative effort among partners of the Caribbean Border Interagency Group, preventing the entry of known felon,s” said Michael DeBruhl, chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Ramey Sector in Aguadilla, P.R.

The CBIG is a multi-agency collaboration between the Coast Guard, U.S. Border Patrol, CBP’s Caribbean Air and Marine Branch, CBP Office of Field Operations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Puerto Rico Police Rapid Action Unit and the U.S. District Attorney’s office.

Through this group effort and the use of a modern biometrics system, information is shared to apprehend and prosecute those individuals who have a criminal record or have repeatedly attempted to enter Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or the mainland United States illegally.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.