Erlan Eduardo Cruz-Acosta, a Honduran national, was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison for illegal reentry into the United States and drug-related offenses. The sentence was issued by Senior U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick.
Cruz-Acosta, aged 41, faced indictments from federal grand juries on March 30, 2022, and February 8, 2024. He pleaded guilty on November 7, 2024, to charges of illegal reentry following removal and drug distribution involving methamphetamine and fentanyl.
The plea agreement revealed Cruz-Acosta’s criminal history starting in 2006 with a conviction for taking indecent liberties with a child in Virginia. Following his deportation in 2008, he repeatedly reentered the United States illegally. In 2009, he faced charges in San Francisco for selling controlled substances and was later convicted federally for illegal reentry. Despite multiple deportations up until June 2010 and another attempt to enter the U.S. illegally in March 2014 resulting in further legal action and deportation by May of that year, he managed to return after July 2016.
In November 2023, Cruz-Acosta admitted to distributing methamphetamine in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. Additionally, he possessed various drugs including fentanyl and cocaine derivatives along with cash and paraphernalia.
The announcement came from United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian alongside DEA Special Agent Bob P. Beris and ICE Field Office Director Sergio Albarran.
Judge Orrick also imposed a three-year supervised release period post-incarceration for Cruz-Acosta who must forfeit $358 along with other seized items like a digital scale and machete. He has been taken into custody immediately following sentencing.
The case prosecution involved Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Chen and Eli J. Cohen as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Alethea Sargent supported by Alycee Lane; stemming from DEA and ICE investigations.
