A 37-year-old Salvadoran national who was previously deported from the United States has been sentenced in federal court in Montana and ordered removed from the country after illegally returning and being arrested during a routine traffic stop in Belgrade.
The Case
Gabriel DeJesus Portillo-Abrego was stopped by Belgrade police on March 1, 2025, on suspicion of speeding and driving under the influence. Following his arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that Portillo-Abrego was in the country without legal authorization, having previously been deported in 2019.
He pleaded guilty in March to a single count of illegal reentry. On Wednesday, July 29, U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen sentenced him to 208 days time served and ordered his removal from the United States. Acting U.S. Attorney Mark Steger Smith announced the sentencing.
Federal Initiative
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case under Operation Take Back America, a federal initiative targeting illegal reentry and other immigration-related offenses. The case reflects a broader enforcement posture by the Trump administration, which has prioritized immigration violations — including reentry by previously deported individuals — as a federal prosecution priority.
Montana has seen increased federal immigration enforcement activity in recent years, with local law enforcement in some cases acting as the first point of contact when ICE involvement follows an arrest. Drug-related offenses and immigration violations have both drawn attention from the state’s federal law enforcement community. Montana’s Attorney General Austin Knudsen has noted shifting drug trafficking patterns across the state, with methamphetamine and cocaine increasingly filling gaps left by fentanyl interdiction efforts.
What’s Next
With his sentence complete and removal ordered, Portillo-Abrego is expected to be transferred to federal immigration custody and deported. Cases prosecuted under Operation Take Back America typically conclude with the defendant being handed over to ICE for removal proceedings once the criminal sentence is served.
The Belgrade case underscores how local traffic stops and DUI enforcement have become a point of intersection between Montana law enforcement and federal immigration authorities under the current administration’s enforcement priorities.
