STAMFORD, CT — A 42-year-old man who was arrested in Stamford has been charged by a federal criminal complaint with illegal reentry of a removed alien, according to an announcement from United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut David X. Sullivan.
Yovani De Jesus Alvarez Murillo, a citizen of Honduras, appeared Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Spector in New Haven and was ordered detained.
Sullivan said Alvarez Murillo was arrested several times between 2005 and 2012 in Westchester and Fairfield Counties.
In October 2012, Stamford police arrested Alvarez Murillo on a charge of second-degree forgery, and he was convicted and sentenced, Sullivan said.
The complaint claims that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) interviewed Alvarez Murillo while he was serving a sentence in the custody of the Connecticut Department of Correction.
During the interview, Alvarez Murillo admitted that he had illegally entered the U.S. in approximately 2002 by crossing the border from Mexico, Sullivan said. Alvarez Murillo was removed to Honduras in October 2013.
The complaint further claims that Alvarez Murillo illegally reentered the U.S. and, in August 2021, under the name "Geovany Alvares-Murillo," was arrested by Stamford police on a charge of second-degree breach of peace. He was convicted of the offense and ordered to pay a $150 fine.
Alvarez Murillo was arrested again in May 2023 on a third-degree criminal trespass charge, and later in November 2024.
Most recently, in August 2025, Stamford police arrested Alvarez Murillo under the name "Geovanny Alvares" on a charge of operating a motor vehicle without an ignition interlock device (breathalyzer).
Alvarez Murillo was convicted on May 14 in Stamford Superior Court. He served a 60-day state sentence and was transferred to ICE custody on Monday.
If convicted on the charge of unlawful reentry, Alvarez Murillo faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison.
Sullivan stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.
This matter is being investigated by ICE, Enforcement and Removal Operations.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative officials say "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, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime."
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