MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge in Miami has ordered deportation for a Venezuelan man who pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle guns and ammunition to his South American homeland. The Miami Herald reports that Alfredo Montilla Hernandez was sentenced last week to 30 months in a U.S. prison. However, U.S. District Judge Robert Scola signed an order for Montilla Hernandez to be deported "promptly upon his sentencing.
"Typically, a judge orders deportation for a foreign national after the completion of the prison sentence in the U.S. Montilla Hernandez's attorney, Ricardo Hermida, said he had never seen an order like Scola's.
Montilla Hernandez was one of five Venezuelans linked by U.S. authorities to a suspicious shipment from Maracaibo, Venezuela, that was investigated by customs agents at Miami International Airport in April 2016.