A citizen of El Salvador, previously convicted for double homicide in his home country, was arrested Friday in Elizabeth, federal prosecutors said.
César Eliseo Sorto-Amaya, 28, was charged Friday with illegally reentering the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey said in a release.
Since 2015, Sorto-Amaya was deported and illegally returned to the United States three separate times, the office said.
On Oct. 30, 2016, he was deported after being convicted of weapons possession charges in Elizabeth, authorities said.
Sorto-Amaya again reentered the United States at an unknown place and an unknown date and on Aug. 26, 2017 and was arrested by the United States Border Patrol, according to criminal complaint. Twelve days later he was again removed to El Salvador.
He reentered the United States once again on an unknown date at an unknown place without permission from either the Attorney General or the Secretary of Homeland Security, the complaint stated.
On Feb. 12, El Salvadoran law enforcement contacted ICE agents and informed them that Sorto-Amaya was wanted on double aggravated homicide charges in El Salvador, where he was convicted in absentia on April 22, 2024, and sentenced to 50 years in prison, investigators said.
No other details about his crime in El Salvador were released.
Detectives in El Salvador also notified ICE that Sorto-Amaya was located at a home in Elizabeth and provided a photograph of him, the complaint said.
On Friday, ICE officers found him on the porch of the home and he was taken into custody, the office said.
He appeared Friday in Newark federal court, but it was unclear what action was taken.
Stories by Chris Sheldon
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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.