USCA4 Appeal: 22-4193 Doc: 34 Filed: 03/24/2023 Pg: 1 of 18 PUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 22-4193 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. OMAR ALFONSO ALAS, Defendant – Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Richmond. Robert E. Payne, Senior District Judge. (3:21−cr−00051−REP−1) Argued: January 24, 2023 Decided: March 24, 2023 Before WILKINSON and DIAZ, Circuit Judges, and Max O. COGBURN, Jr., United States District Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, sitting by designation. Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Wilkinson wrote the opinion, in which Judge Diaz and Judge Cogburn joined. ARGUED: Joseph Stephen Camden, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellant. Joseph Attias, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Geremy C. Kamens, Federal Public Defender, Alexandria, Virginia, Caroline S. Platt, Los Angeles, California, Laura J. Koenig, Assistant Federal Public Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellant. Jessica D. Aber, USCA4 Appeal: 22-4193 Doc: 34 Filed: 03/24/2023 Pg: 2 of 18 United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee. 2 USCA4 Appeal: 22-4193 Doc: 34 Filed: 03/24/2023 Pg: 3 of 18 WILKINSON, Circuit Judge: Omar Alfonso Alas illegally entered the United States in 2004 and was arrested three years later in Virginia for malicious wounding. He was deported to El Salvador in 2011 but later reentered the country. He was interviewed by police in 2016 in connection with a dispute involving his employer but was not charged with illegal reentry at that time. In 2020, Alas was arrested in Virginia for assault and battery. He was then indicted for illegal reentry in 2021. Alas twice moved to dismiss that indictment, arguing that the five- year statute of limitations on his prosecution had run and that his crime of malicious wounding was not a deportable offense. The district court rejected Alas’s claims. Because we likewise find his arguments unpersuasive, we affirm the district court’s judgment. I. A. Omar Alas was born and raised in El Salvador. He made his way across the Mexican border into the United States without authorization in 2004. Three years later, he was arrested and pleaded guilty in Virginia state court to malicious wounding in violation of Virginia Code § 18.2-51. Alas was sentenced to multiple years in prison. Once he completed his sentence, Alas was released into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. He was then served with an administrative removal order— Form I-851—which initiated expedited removal proceedings against him. The form, presented to Alas in English, charged that Alas was deportable for being an alien convicted of an aggravated felony, namely malicious wounding. Alas signed the form, waiving his right to judicial review, and was removed to El Salvador in 2011. 3 USCA4 Appeal: 22-4193 Doc: 34 Filed: 03/24/2023 Pg: 4 of 18 Sometime after 2011, Alas reentered the United States without authorization. He resurfaced at a Texas hospital …
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