A Guatemalan national, Roberto Nicolas-Simon, 24, has been sentenced to 14 months in prison after pleading guilty to failing to update his registration as a sex offender and for illegally reentering the United States. The sentencing took place in Urbana, Illinois.
According to evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, Nicolas-Simon was unlawfully present in the United States when he was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Champaign County. He acknowledged his obligation to register as a sex offender before being removed from the country to Guatemala in 2021. Authorities determined that he reentered the United States illegally sometime in 2024 and lived in Champaign without updating his sex offender registration until he was located through a joint investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the United States Marshals Service.
U.S. District Court Judge Colin S. Bruce ruled that Nicolas-Simon’s illegal reentry offense carried enhanced penalties because he committed his sex offense prior to being removed from the United States for the first time. Judge Bruce ordered five years of supervised release following imprisonment with a condition prohibiting him from illegally reentering the country again. Violating this condition could result in further penalties and prosecution.
Nicolas-Simon pleaded guilty to both offenses in September 2025. After serving his sentence, he will be subject to removal proceedings.
The statutory penalties for each offense included up to ten years of imprisonment and fines up to $250,000. He also faced possible terms of supervised release—up to three years for illegal presence and between five years and life for failure to update sex offender registration.
The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, establishes minimum standards for sex offender registration across jurisdictions within the U.S., requiring offenders like Nicolas-Simon to keep their information current wherever they live, work, or attend school.
The case was investigated by ICE’s Department of Homeland Security with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Lynch prosecuted the case.
