TALLAHASSEE — A 39-year-old Honduran illegal alien was sentenced to 121 months in federal prison after a jury found him guilty of attempting to entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity and traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, U.S. Attorney John P. Heekin announced.
Israel Ramos Portillo, who also used the name Juan Carlos and resided in Coffee Springs, Alabama, drove across state lines to Tallahassee to meet what he believed was a 14-year-old child for sex. The child was actually an undercover detective. After serving his 121-month sentence, Portillo faces 5 years of supervised release, mandatory sex offender registration and deportation proceedings.
“This criminal illegal alien sought to sexually exploit and victimize a child, and drove for hours across state lines to accomplish that heinous crime,” Heekin said. “Thanks to the excellent investigative work by our state and federal law enforcement partners and the outstanding trial prosecution by my office, this predator will instead find himself in federal prison for more than a decade. As this case demonstrates, it is imperative that we secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws to repel and expel criminal illegal aliens from our country to keep our communities - and our kids - safe.”
The Leon County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations conducted a joint undercover operation on April 12, 2025, targeting adults using the internet to sexually exploit children. Portillo began interacting with the undercover profile on a dating website and over a two-week period exchanged sexually explicit text messages, ultimately arranging to travel to Tallahassee to meet the fictitious child at a hotel. Law enforcement arrested him at the proposed meeting location and seized his cell phone, confirming he was the person communicating with the detective.
“This criminal illegal alien is a predator who sought to exploit the vulnerability of a child online,” said Homeland Security Investigations Tampa acting Deputy Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno. “Child predators will find no safe haven as HSI, alongside our partners, will relentlessly pursue those who attempt to harm our youth. Protecting children from these heinous crimes is of highest importance, and threats to their safety will not be tolerated.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin M. Keen as part of both Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation, and Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative targeting illegal immigration and transnational criminal organizations.
Separately in the Northern District of Florida, a Gainesville career criminal was sentenced to 174 months — 14 and a half years — in federal prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Tyrese Da’jon Jones, 26, held a co-worker at gunpoint inside her vehicle for several hours on July 2, 2025, then pointed his firearm at responding officers before being apprehended, according to court records. Jones had multiple prior convictions for offenses involving drugs and guns.
“This was an extremely dangerous situation created by an individual who demonstrated a complete disregard for the law and the safety of others,” said Alachua County Sheriff Chad Scott. “Thanks to this federal sentence, a violent offender will remain off our streets and will not be able to threaten our community in the near future. We remain committed to aggressively pursuing those who illegally possess firearms and use them to victimize others.”
Portillo will be held for deportation proceedings at the conclusion of his federal prison sentence. Jones’s case involved an investigation by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.