Four-time deported man sentenced for illegal reentry after arrest in western NC

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina announced that a Honduran man was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to illegal entry into the United States.

Officials said that 48-year-old Franklin Flores-Penas will be removed from the United States after he completes his 21-month prison sentence.

According to court records and the sentencing hearing on Oct. 26, 2025, Flores-Penas was arrested in Buncombe County. Investigators determined that he had illegally reentered the United States four times after he had been deported.

Court records show that on Jan. 16, 2004, Flores-Penas was convicted of a felony drug offense in Los Angeles, California, and on Feb. 25, 2004, he was ordered to be deported back to Honduras. Subsequently, Flores-Penas was removed from the United States three more times, in 2008, 2015 and 2018. Each time he was removed, he illegally reentered the United States voluntarily without gaining the express consent of the Secretary of Homeland Security to reenter.

Flores-Penas remains in federal custody and will be ordered to report to the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility, according to officials.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

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