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Walter Romero Saloj-Pecher was apprehended after being let back into the public following multiple incidents that were reported in Maryland.
According to officials, in late January 2013, Saloj-Pecher entered the country illegally in Texas, where he was apprehended and issued a notice to appear before a DOJ immigration judge, who ultimately released him in March 2013.
Months later, in August 2014, a second immigration judge in Baltimore ordered Saloj-Pecher be removed from the country and sent back to Guatemala, though he remained in the region for another decade.
Saloj-Pecher was arrested in Howard County in September 2023 in connection to a reported assault, and ERO lodged an immigration detainer while he was behind bars, though the Detention Center "refused to honor ERO's immigration detainer" and released Saloj-Pecher "on an unknown date."
ICE says that Saloj-Pecher's reign of terror continued, and in October 2023, the Montgomery County Department of Police filed a warrant for his arrest for robbery, second-degree assault, and theft of less than $100.
In December 2023, Saloj-Pecher was convicted of assault and he was sentenced to five years in prison, followed by a year of supervised probation; however the court then suspended four years and 364 days of the prison sentence.
Saloj-Pecher was arrested again by officers from ERO Baltimore's Fugitive Operations Team on Wednesday, Aug. 14 in Hyattsville, and he remains in custody.
“Walter Romeo Saloj-Pecher has not only displayed a disregard for US immigration laws," ERO Baltimore acting Field Office Director Matthew Elliston said. He has also assaulted a member of our Maryland community.
“Furthermore, he has been charged with another assault and robbery in a different county," he continued.
"This incident is particularly unfortunate in that one county’s refusal to cooperate with ERO apparently resulted in the suspect committing a subsequent crime in a neighboring county."
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