A Honduran citizen, Christian Pena-Ochoa, 30, pleaded guilty on November 5, 2025, to the charge of illegal reentry after removal before U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle in New Orleans.
Court documents show that Pena-Ochoa first entered the United States illegally in October 2014. In 2018, he was convicted for possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number and was removed to Honduras. Between 2018 and 2020, Pena-Ochoa reentered the United States without authorization.
In December 2020, an arrest warrant was issued for Pena-Ochoa in Orleans Parish on charges including domestic abuse battery/strangulation, aggravated battery, and extortion. A second warrant later added charges of rape, domestic abuse battery/strangulation, and false imprisonment while armed with a dangerous weapon. In 2022, authorities located him in Harris County, Texas through the United States Marshals’ Fugitive Task Force. He was extradited to Orleans Parish where he pleaded guilty to second degree rape and cruelty to juveniles.
Pena-Ochoa now faces up to two years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, up to one year of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney David Berman from the Violent Crime Unit is leading the prosecution.
