A Guatemalan national residing illegally in West Springfield, Massachusetts, has pleaded guilty to charges related to possessing a forged immigration document and unlawfully reentering the United States. The plea was entered on June 13, 2025, in federal court in Springfield.
Jose Martinez-Lopez, also known as “Amalio Mendez-Molina,” aged 33, admitted guilt to one count each of possession of a forged immigration document and unlawful reentry after deportation. U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni set the sentencing date for August 20, 2025. Martinez-Lopez’s arrest occurred in March 2025.
Martinez-Lopez was initially deported from the United States to Guatemala on August 28, 2009. Following this removal, he returned illegally and was deported again on May 10, 2011. Despite these removals, he unlawfully reentered the country multiple times.
In Phoenix, Arizona, Martinez-Lopez was convicted of human smuggling conspiracy on August 8, 2011, receiving a one-year probation sentence before being removed once more on August 23 of that year. After another illegal reentry into the United States for a fourth time, he faced arrests in Cook County, Illinois for domestic battery/bodily harm in November 2022 and June 2023. On both occasions, immigration detainers were placed but were not acted upon before his release from state custody.
On March 10, 2025, Martinez-Lopez was apprehended in West Springfield for assaulting a police officer which led to his arrest by immigration authorities. At that time he held a forged permanent resident card under the alias “Amalio Mendez-Molina.” The following day he confessed to being unlawfully present since reentering the country illegally in 2021.
The offense of possessing a forged immigration document carries a potential sentence of up to ten years imprisonment with three years supervised release and fines up to $250,000; while unlawful reentry could result in two years imprisonment with similar terms of supervised release and fines. Upon serving any imposed sentence Martinez-Lopez faces deportation based on U.S Sentencing Guidelines statutes governing criminal cases.
This development was announced by United States Attorney Leah B. Foley along with Patricia H Hyde who is Field Office Director at U.S Immigration Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement Removal Operations Boston branch office where Assistant U.S Attorney Steven H Breslow prosecutes this case.
