Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Noe Alexander Flores Vasquez, 37, who was recently convicted on assault and battery charges in Alachua County, has now been convicted on a federal charge of illegally reentering the country after prior removals.

Flores Vasquez, a citizen of Honduras, was arrested in Gainesville on November 26, 2024, and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, assault, battery with a prior battery conviction, and resisting an officer without violence. On July 17, he entered a plea of nolo contendere to all of the charges except the aggravated battery charge, and Judge Denise Ferrero sentenced him to 233 days in jail with credit for 233 days served. On July 19, he was turned over to ICE.

According to a release from the U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Florida, Flores Vasquez was previously removed from the United States in November 2013, November 2017, and May 2022. 

Speaking about Flores Vasquez and five other illegal aliens who were convicted in August of reentering the country after prior removals, U.S. Attorney Heekin said, “Each of these offenders had been previously deported for illegally entering our country – some, multiple times – and each knowingly and intentionally violated our national immigration laws yet again because they thought they could get away with it. Wrong. My office is committed to aggressively prosecuting these crimes in fulfillment of the promise made by President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi to Take Back America by making the enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws a top priority.”

The cases were investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, with assistance from several state and local partners. Assistant United States Attorneys Adam Hapner, Jenna H. Callahan, Walter Narramore, Jeffrey M. Tharp, and Brooke DiSalvo prosecuted the cases.

The cases are 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).