A Chattanooga federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a Mexican man previously convicted of sexually abusing a child to 15 months in prison with one year of supervised release, court records said.
Isidro Soto-Rodriguez, 39, pleaded guilty in March to illegally reentering the U.S. A law enforcement officer arrested him on Dec. 21 in connection with three traffic offense charges, which were later dismissed.
He spoke through an interpreter at his roughly 20-minute sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier, according to court records. The court waived a fine due to his inability to pay and assigned him a $100 special assessment fee.
Soto-Rodriguez admitted to entering the country illegally again after his deportation on or about June 14, 2012, according to his signed plea agreement.
The removal followed his release from state custody in Georgia, where he served about 16 months in prison on a 10-year sentence for a Gwinnett County child molestation conviction, according to online state records.
He understood that as a consequence of pleading guilty, he could face automatic removal from the country, according to his agreement. He had faced up to two years in prison, probation of up to one year, up to a $250,000 fine, lawful restitution and a $100 fee.
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The Chattanooga Times Free Press reached out to the federal prosecutor's spokesperson and Soto-Rodriguez's defense attorney. Responses will be published online when received.
On Dec. 21, Soto-Rodriguez was traveling in a beige pickup truck on Middle Valley Road, according to his arrest report. A sheriff's deputy conducted a traffic stop after observing him allegedly alternating his headlights from low beam to high beam to oncoming traffic.
Soto-Rodriguez allegedly did not have a valid driver's license or proof of insurance, the arrest report said. The deputy checked the driver for outstanding warrants with a national database and discovered that Soto-Rodriguez was a deported felon.
The deputy contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement using the number listed on the database report, the report said, and learned a detainer would be placed on the driver once he was booked into jail for the traffic offenses.
Before the Sheriff's Office federal immigration agreement, under a jail enforcement model, activated in March, deputies used a state-mandated form to notify the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference when an inmate couldn't provide valid identification.
(READ MORE: Hamilton County immigration enforcement agreement is active, sheriff says)
Sheriff Austin Garrett previously said the agreement expedites the paperwork process for people with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers awaiting transport who are already in custody on other criminal charges.
Garrett has said he felt like the jail enforcement model was the right thing to do, and the releases to ICE wouldn't change. He did not sign a specific task force agreement, which authorizes deputies to arrest people based on suspected immigration violations.
Contact courts reporter Mason Edwards at medwards@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6409.