An unauthorized resident of the U.S. with deferred-action status who was living in De Queen, Ark., in late 2014 received an 18-month federal prison term Friday for illegally possessing a firearm.
Jaime Vega, 22, appeared for sentencing with Federal Public Defender Tiffany Fields at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey in a third-floor courtroom of Texarkana's downtown federal building. Vega entered a guilty plea last year to being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.
Vega has a "deferred-action card," according to statements made in court Friday morning. According to the Department of Homeland Security Website, deferred-action status is granted to individuals who have lived illegally in the U.S. since childhood.
"You have been here since you were a small child," Hickey said. "However, you are not an American citizen, and you don't have all the rights of an American citizen."
That includes owning or possessing a gun. Vega was arrested in December 2014 by officials in Sevier County after being found in possession of a pistol with a defaced or obliterated serial number.
At the beginning of the hearing, Fields told the court Vega is a "hard worker," a "loving father" and a "family man." Fields asked Hickey to consider letters from Vega's children and their mother, with whom he has had a relationship for "more than a decade."
"His biggest regret is that his actions took him away from us," Fields read from Vega's partner's letter. "It has been a very, very long year without him. Without him, we've had difficulty financially and emotionally."
Fields said Vega doted on his family and worked diligently to support them before his arrest.
"This has taken him not only away from his family, but could cost him his deferred action and lead to deportation," Fields said.
Vega declined to speak, but Ross countered on the government's behalf.
"We're not here just because he possessed a defaced firearm," Ross argued. "But for what he did with that defaced firearm."
Ross told Hickey police were called after Vega punched his partner in the face and knocked her to the floor. Ross said Vega held a gun to the woman's neck and asked if she was seeing someone else.
"Their 6-year-old saw the defendant slap their mother," Ross said, arguing that Vega's actions are not those of a "wonderful father."
With the credit for time he has spent behind bars waiting for disposition of his case, Vega will likely spend about six months in federal prison. Upon release, Vega will be supervised by federal officials for two years. If he breaks the law or otherwise violates the terms of his release, Vega could be ordered to spend more time incarcerated.
Hickey warned Vega to mend his ways or risk deportation.
"You need to decide in the next six months what you're going to do," Hickey said. "The people who are really punished in these cases are the families. They're suffering just as much as you are. You are the one who has to decide what you're going to do with the rest of your life."