COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – Hector Javier Torres Tapia, age 32, a Mexican citizen, formerly of Council Bluffs, was sentenced on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, to 18 months in prison following his plea of guilty to illegally reentering the country.

On May 21, 2022, Torres Tapia came to the attention of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), following on a traffic stop by the Council Bluffs Police Department. ICE Officers arrested Torres Tapia three days later. In 2015, Torres Tapia was convicted of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine in the Nebraska District Court for Douglas County.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Council Bluffs Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated the case.