EXCLUSIVE – A Mexican national, who has unlawfully crossed into the United States on at least five occasions, was apprehended after being found guilty of child abduction and enticement.

Leonardo Ignot-Osto, aged 40, was detained by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while he was held at the Scott County Jail in Illinois on Sunday.

“This is a prime example of the individuals ICE is targeting in Chicago: a criminal alien who repeatedly violated U.S. immigration laws and committed serious offenses against a child,” stated Emily Covington, ICE’s Assistant Director for Public Affairs.

Authorities reported that Ignot-Osto, 40, faced arrest following his conviction for child abduction. He has been documented entering the United States illegally at least five times. (Getty Images)

According to ICE, Ignot-Osto’s illegal entries into the U.S. have been occurring since 2005.

U.S. Border Patrol encountered him four times in 2005, and each time, he voluntarily returned to Mexico. He snuck back into the country for at least the fifth time prior to his first criminal conviction in the U.S., authorities said. 

On April 15, 2025, he was charged in Illinois with abduction, kidnapping a child, and two counts of enticement of a child for indecent purposes, ICE said.

On Sept. 18, he was found guilty of child abduction and luring a child under 17 and sentenced to a year in prison.

“This man is clearly a public safety threat, and if the sanctuary city of Chicago would have turned him over to us after his first conviction in 2010, he wouldn’t have been here to victimize an innocent child,” Covington said. 

Ignot-Osto is currently being held by ICE pending deportation proceedings. 

Immigration authorities have been operating in the Chicago area in an effort to curb crime and deport criminal illegal immigrants, despite heavy push back from local and state officials.