A Mexican national previously deported after being convicted of indecent liberties with a child has been sentenced in federal court in Lafayette for illegally re-entering the United States after deportation. 

U.S Attorney David Joseph announced Tuesday that 49-year-old Jose Melchor-Martinez pleaded guilty to one count of illegal re-entry of a removed alien.

According to the guilty plea, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Melchor-Martinez near Church Point, Louisiana, on October 12, 2018 on a criminal complaint.

He had been previously removed from the United States on September 6, 2003 after a serving time for a conviction in Mecklenburg, North Carolina, for a charge of indecent liberties with a child.

At the time of his arrest in October, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement considered Melchor-Martinez one of its most wanted fugitives.