Timoteo Upia-Frias, 74, a native of the Dominican Republic, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller recently and pleaded guilty to one count charging him with illegally reentering the United States, according to the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Virgin Islands. The elderly man is facing up to 20 years in prison for reentering after removal. He was removed in 2016 and sent back to his native Dominican Republic because of a 2008 heroin conviction.
According to court documents, Timoteo Upia-Frias was discovered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations agents living in a neighborhood on St. Thomas while conducting an operation investigating undocumented immigrants in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors at a sentencing hearing to be scheduled later.
