Man Arrested In West Haven Admits Illegally Reentering The U.S. Feds

WEST HAVEN, CT — A Mexican citizen who last lived in West Haven has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of illegally reentering the U.S. after being deported, according to officials.

German Eduardo Martinez Franco, 41, pleaded guilty in Hartford federal court on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut Vanessa Roberts Avery announced.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on seven occasions between 1998 and 2015, Martinez was encountered in Arizona and subsequently removed to Mexico, according to a news release.

In Arizona in 2010, Martinez was convicted of illegal entry and sentenced to 90 days of imprisonment. In 2011, he was convicted of illegal reentry and sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment; In 2014, he was convicted of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and was sentenced to 33 months of imprisonment, according to officials. Martinez was last removed to Mexico in December 2015, officials said.

“On July 1, 2021, Martinez, who was using another identity, was arrested in West Haven and charged with possession with intent to sell greater than one ounce of heroin or methamphetamine, possession with intent to sell a narcotic substance, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, criminal impersonation, and forgery in the first degree,” officials wrote in the news release. “He has been detained since his state arrest.”

Martinez is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 31, at which time his faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

Martinez has pleaded guilty in state court to a narcotics possession offense and awaits sentencing for that offense.