Texas DPS arrests Guatemalan felon for illegal border crossing

DEL RIO, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The Texas Department of Public Safety arrested a convicted Guatemalan citizen with a history of illegally re-entering the United States.

At approximately 11:30 a.m., on Sept. 16, a DPS Trooper came across a man walking along US-90 near Del Rio, according to a news release from Texas DPS.

During the encounter, the Trooper identified the man as 50-year-old Jorge Mario Ecute Gonzalez of Guatemala.

^{Jose Mario Ecute Gonzalez (Source: Texas Department of Public Safety)}

Throughout the investigation, it was revealed that Gonzalez had a history of illegal re-entry after serving prison time in Missouri on charges of child molestation.

In 2017, Garza was convicted of first-degree child molestation by the 19th Judicial Circuit Court of Cole County, MO, and was sentenced to five years in prison.

He was removed from the U.S. in 2020 and illegally re-entered the U.S. in 2022, the release stated.

Gonzalez was prosecuted again in 2023 by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in Del Rio on federal charges related to re-entering the U.S. as a previously deported aggravated felon.

In 2024, he was deported from the U.S., according to the release.

DPS turned Gonzalez over to the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol.