Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange, U.S. District Court, has sentenced a Mexican man convicted of Illegal Reentry after Deportation. The sentencing took place on August 17, 2026.
Angel Takashi Cano-Meza, 36, was sentenced to time served. He will be deported to Mexico.
Cano-Meza was indicted for Illegal Reentry after Deportation by a federal grand jury in July 2026. He pleaded guilty on August 17, 2026.
Cano-Meza is an illegal alien who was deported from the United States to Mexico in 2022. Cano-Meza was again deported from the United States in 2024. On June 20, 2026, Cano-Meza was in custody for an arrest in Pennington County for possession of a fictitious driver’s license, impersonation to deceive law enforcement, and open container in a motor vehicle. Local authorities notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who discovered Cano-Meza’s true identity and history of deportations. It is a federal felony for an alien to be in the United States after having been deported from the United States without obtaining the consent of the Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security and the Attorney General of the United States to apply for lawful admission into the United States.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Schroeder prosecuted the case.
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