Jamaican Man Pleads Guilty To Illegal Reentry Into The United States

Monday, February 24, 2025, 6:30 A.M. ET. 3 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

PHILADELPHIA, PA.- A 50-year-old Jamaican national illegally in the United States will be facing up to 20 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty last Tuesday in federal court in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a federal immigration crime.

     On Tuesday, February 18, 2025, Marlon Hodges, also known as “Michael Stewart,” 50, of Jamaica, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Anita B. Brody to one count of Illegal Reentry into the United States by a Previously Deported Alien.

According To The U.S. Attorney’s Office

     According to Acting U.S. Attorney Nelson S.T. Thayer, Jr., and charging information filed with the District Court, in February 2024, federal authorities became aware that Hodges was illegal in the United States after having been deported in 2016.

     On March 6, 2024, Homeland Security Investigations Border Enforcement Security Task Force launched an operation to locate Hodges. At around 10:30 a.m., while conducting surveillance, federal agents observed Hodges leaving a residence on the 5500 Block of Watson Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and walking to a corner store on South 56th Street.

     When federal agents entered the store and stopped Hodges, he told agents that his name was Marlon Hodges and that he did not have identification with him. At that time, Hodges was immediately placed under arrest and searched. During the search, federal agents found in his possession a fraudulent Pennsylvania driver’s license with his photograph but with the name of Michael Stewart on the license.

     A subsequent fingerprint check confirmed Hodges’ identity. After his identity was confirmed, federal agents conducted a criminal and immigration records check and uncovered that, in February 2005, Hodges was convicted of first-degree assault in Orange County, New York, and sentenced to a New York State prison term of fourteen years. 

     In March 2005, U.S. Immigration Officers issued Hodges a Notice to Appear in Immigration Court for being an Alien Convicted of an Aggravated Felony, a conviction for a crime of violence with a prison sentence imposed of one year or longer. 

     In January 2006, a Federal Immigration Judge in Fishkill, New York, ordered Hodges to be removed from the United States to Jamaica upon completion of his state prison term. On April 28, 2016, Hodges was removed from the U.S. and returned to Jamaica. Sometime after that, Hodges illegally reentered the United States at an unknown place on an unknown date.

     After entering his guilty plea, Judge Brody accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for May 27, 2025. At that time, Hodges faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. At sentencing, a U.S. District Court Judge will determine the term of imprisonment based on the seriousness of the offense and Hodges’ prior criminal history.