FAIRFAX, VA — A Guatemalan national previously deported following a Texas felony drug conviction is facing a federal charge after immigration authorities alleged he was found living in Fairfax County without permission to reenter the United States.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Luis Miguel Lopez-Ramos, also known by several aliases, is charged with illegal reentry after removal following a felony conviction, a violation of federal immigration law.
Federal court records show Lopez-Ramos made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ivan D. Davis on Wednesday. The court granted the government's request to detain him pending a detention hearing, appointed a federal public defender to represent him, and scheduled a combined detention and preliminary hearing for Thursday in Alexandria. A Spanish interpreter was provided during the proceedings, according to the docket.
A deportation officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement assigned to Fairfax County stated in a sworn affidavit that ICE learned on May 16, 2025, that Lopez-Ramos had been booked into the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated under Virginia law.
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According to the affidavit, fingerprints taken during that arrest matched existing FBI and ICE records. Investigators determined Lopez-Ramos is a citizen of Guatemala who was formally removed from the United States on Oct. 5, 2011, near Houston, Texas. The affidavit states he did not have authorization to reenter or remain in the country.
ICE investigators also reviewed his immigration file, which allegedly contained a signed warrant of removal and other records confirming his deportation. The agency said a forensic comparison completed June 8 matched fingerprints taken during the Fairfax arrest to those in his immigration file.
According to the affidavit, Lopez-Ramos was convicted July 25, 2011, in Harris County, Texas, of delivery of less than one gram of cocaine. Court records cited in the affidavit state he was sentenced to six months in prison before being removed from the United States later that year.
Federal prosecutors allege Lopez-Ramos returned to the United States without obtaining permission from the attorney general or the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, as required under federal law for previously removed individuals convicted of certain offenses.
A criminal complaint contains allegations only. Lopez-Ramos is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
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