Erlan Eduardo Cruz-Acosta, a Honduran national, has been sentenced to 36 months in federal prison. The sentence was delivered by Senior U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick in San Francisco for charges of illegal reentry following removal and drug-related offenses, including distribution of methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
Cruz-Acosta, aged 41, faced indictments from federal grand juries on March 30, 2022, and February 8, 2024. He pleaded guilty on November 7, 2024, to charges that included illegal reentry following removal as well as drug distribution offenses.
His criminal history dates back to a conviction in Fairfax County, Virginia in 2006 for taking indecent liberties with a child, resulting in a two-year prison sentence followed by an additional three-month sentence for probation violation. After his deportation from the United States in 2008 and subsequent illegal return the same year, Cruz-Acosta was convicted again in San Francisco Superior Court in 2009 for selling a controlled substance. This led to another conviction for illegal reentry in federal district court under violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 and an 18-month federal prison sentence before being deported again in June 2010.
Cruz-Acosta illegally entered the United States once more in March 2014 but was caught and deported after being convicted again of illegal reentry two months later. Following his removal in July 2016, he was found back in the United States around June 22, 2021.
In November 2023, Cruz-Acosta admitted to distributing methamphetamine within San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. He also confessed to possessing significant amounts of fentanyl along with other substances such as cocaine base and heroin at the time of his arrest.
The announcement regarding this case came from United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian alongside DEA Special Agent Bob P. Beris and ICE Field Office Director Sergio Albarran.
In addition to the prison term imposed by Judge Orrick, Cruz-Acosta will undergo three years of supervised release post-incarceration and must forfeit $358 along with various items linked to his offenses including a digital scale and machete.
The case prosecution involved Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Chen and Eli J. Cohen together with Assistant U.S. Attorney Alethea Sargent supported by Alycee Lane; stemming from investigations conducted by both DEA and ICE authorities.
