A Mexican citizen sentenced to 12 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections for an attempted murder conviction in Lincoln County was sentenced Wednesday to an additional 13 years, 2 months in federal prison for illegal reentry into the U.S.
Cristobal Palomerez-Heredia, 45, of Mexico, who was previously deported in 2012, was charged after two run-ins with police in Star City in 2020 and 2021.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Brian Miller handed down the 158-month sentence to run consecutively to Palomerez-Heredia's state prison sentence, for a total of 302 months.
Court records indicated that on March 18, 2020, officers with the Star City Police Department who had responded to a shots-fired call arrived to find Palomerez-Heredia pacing back and forth, appearing aggressive and agitated. While trying to detain him, records said, Palomerez-Heredia charged at an officer, punching, scratching and headbutting the officer several times resulting in injuries in the officer's mouth, jaw, forearm and hand.
On Sept. 2, 2021, Palomerez-Heredia was indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with illegal reentry.
Three weeks later, on Sept. 22, officers with the Star City Police Department again responded to a shooting call. Upon their arrival, records said, Palomerez-Heredia began shooting at them from his front door, precipitating a four-hour standoff with Star City police and Arkansas State Police, who were called in to assist.
After Palomerez-Heredia was subdued and taken into custody, a search of his residence turned up a loaded .22-caliber rifle with a scope, 24 spent .22 shell casings, and an additional loaded magazine. On that same day, agents with the Department of Homeland Security-Immigration and Customs Enforcement positively identified Palomerez-Heredia and arrested him on a federal warrant.
The U.S. attorney's office said in a news release that Palomerez-Heredia has prior federal criminal convictions for illegal alien in possession of a firearm in 2006 and deported alien found in the United States in 2011. Palomerez-Heredia received a 12-year sentence for attempted murder in the Circuit Court of Lincoln County stemming from the shootout on September 22, 2021.
In addition to the 158-month prison sentence, Miller sentenced Palomerez-Heredia to serve three years of supervised release after he leaves prison with the only condition being that he not return to the United States after deportation.
Palomerez-Heredia was represented by KenDrell Collins with the Federal Public Defenders Office in Little Rock. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jordan Crews prosecuted the case.