BUFFALO – U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Petronilo Castillo Bonilla, 40, a citizen and national of Honduras, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo to re-entry of a removed alien. He was sentenced to time served and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Smith, who handled the case, stated that Castillo Bonilla is an alien without any legal status in the United States. In August 2017, following an arrest for public intoxication in Tennessee, he was ordered removed from the United States. On June 24, 2025, Castillo Bonilla was found in Erie County, NY, by U.S. Border Patrol Agents in the parking lot of a store in Amherst, NY. He was in possession of a Honduran passport but did not have any legal documents allowing him to be present in the United States.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
The plea and sentencing are the result of an investigation by U.S. Border Patrol, under the direction of Patrol Agent in Charge David Banks.
