A Mexican man who was in the United States illegally was sentenced in late September to a term of time-served and remanded to the U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Leobardo Ricardo Torres-Torres, 38, pleaded guilty in April 2025 to illegal reentry.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

Torres-Torres was in the Cascade County Adult Detention Center for a total of 94 days in two stints. As of Sept. 26 he was no longer in the jail, according to the Cascade County Attorney’s Office.

Illegal immigrant previously released charged with sexual abuse of children

According to the county jail roster, there are 18 immigration holds and 119 federal holds in the county jail as of Oct. 4.

Previously, the roster didn’t show most federal inmates and inconsistently showed immigration holds.

The Electric asked Sheriff Jesse Slaughter about the missing inmates, since the roster showed about 100 fewer people that the total number held in the county jail.

Slaughter told The Electric that the U.S. Marshal in Montana had a policy of not including federal inmates on the roster, causing problems for families trying to call or add money to an inmate’s commissary account.

Guatemalan man in U.S. illegally sentenced

The official read that comment, called the sheriff and the roster now includes all federal and immigration holds as of Oct. 2, Slaughter told The Electric.

Torres-Torres was removed from the U.S.  in November 2016 and never obtained permission to return.

On March 24, 2025, he was found in Havre when Border Patrol agents approached a vehicle registered to a person illegally present in the U.S. in the Walmart parking lot. An agent asked Torres-Torres if he owned the vehicle, and he admitted he did. He said was working construction in the area, was originally from Mexico, and had no documents that permitted him to enter or remain in the U.S., according to court documents.

Mexican man who was in U.S. illegally sentenced

Torres-Torres’s immigration files show he applied for U.S. citizenship in 2002 but presented a fraudulent birth certificate with his application. He was allowed to withdraw the application and return to Mexico.

In July 2009, Torres-Torres was found in Arizona and ordered removed after an arrest in Maricopa County for driving while intoxicated.

In July 2010, Border Patrol agents found Torres-Torres, again in Arizona. He was convicted of illegal entry, a misdemeanor, sentenced to 30 days in prison, and removed from the U.S., according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Honduran who was in U.S. illegally sentenced to prison, been held in Cascade County jail for months

Un August 2016, he was picked up by Border Patrol and again convicted of illegal entry, sentenced to 75 days in prison, and again removed from the U.S.. When he was arrested in Havre in March 2025, Torres-Torres told the Border Patrol he re-entered the U.S. in November 2017, near El Paso, Texas.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The investigation was conducted by the Border Patrol.

Locals ask county not to cooperate with ICE; county jail has existing contract for federal holds

This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to stop illegal immigration, eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect communities from violent crime. The initiative streamlines efforts and resources from the department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.