{"id":119528,"date":"2026-02-03T07:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T12:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/illegal-immigrant-who-fled-us-after-killing-sarah-root-sentenced-to-20-years-behind-bars-119528"},"modified":"2026-02-03T07:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T12:42:16","slug":"illegal-immigrant-who-fled-us-after-killing-sarah-root-sentenced-to-20-years-behind-bars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/illegal-immigrant-who-fled-us-after-killing-sarah-root-sentenced-to-20-years-behind-bars-119528","title":{"rendered":"Illegal immigrant who fled US after killing Sarah Root sentenced to 20+ years behind bars"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A Honduran illegal immigrant<\/a> who fled the United States after killing an Iowa woman in 2016 while driving drunk in Nebraska has been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n

Eswin Mejia was sentenced to 20 to 22 years in prison on Monday after being convicted on charges of motor vehicle homicide and flight to avoid arrest, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mejia, who was living in the U.S. illegally, was driving drunk when he crashed into 21-year-old Sarah Root\u2019s vehicle at a stoplight in Omaha, Nebraska, in January 2016. Root, an Iowa native, later died at a hospital.<\/p>\n

Mejia was detained and charged, but he fled the country after being released on bond. He was later added to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “Most Wanted” list.<\/p>\n

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WITH PRIOR DUIS, DEPORTATION ORDER, SUSPECTED IN CRASH KILLING 8-YEAR-OLD CALIFORNIA GIRL<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

At the time of his arrest, ICE said that Mejia was not an “enforcement priority.”<\/p>\n

In March 2025, the Trump administration announced the extradition of Sarah\u2019s killer<\/a> from Honduras to the United States to face justice once and for all.<\/p>\n

It came after Honduras reached an agreement with the United States to continue a century-old extradition treaty. It was the first time Honduras had ever extradited someone to the U.S. for homicide.<\/p>\n

OUTRAGE ERUPTS AFTER BOOZED-UP ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ALLEGEDLY MOWS DOWN BLUE STATE COUPLE \u2013 \u2018HOW MANY MORE?\u2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“The criminal illegal alien who stole Sarah Root\u2019s life was just convicted to 21 years. Nothing will bring her back, but I am glad to see some justice for Sarah\u2019s family,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

“I want to thank Homeland Security Investigations and our interagency law enforcement partners for extraditing Sarah\u2019s killer and bringing him back to the U.S.,” Noem continued. “I also want to thank Senator Joni Ernst for her advocacy on behalf of Sarah and her family. Sarah should still be here today, and this illegal alien should have never been in our country in the first place. The Trump administration will always put the safety of Americans first.”<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the tragedy, Sarah\u2019s Law<\/a> was introduced in the United States Congress. It was eventually added as an amendment to the Laken Riley Act.<\/p>\n

“Today, an illegal immigrant who murdered young Iowan Sarah Root faced justice,” Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, wrote on X.<\/a> “After her killer escaped the consequences of his crime for too long, the Root family can finally have closure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The senator thanked President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Noem “for making today possible.”<\/p>\n

“While nothing can bring Sarah back, my Sarah\u2019s Law will ensure no other family will have to endure what the Roots have,” Ernst added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Border agents first encountered Mejia in May 2013 when he arrived in Nogales, Ariz., and was designated as an unaccompanied child, according to an ICE response letter to then-Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mejia was transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which then sent him to Omaha in 2014 to live with his brother.<\/p>\n

After his January 2016 arrest for motor vehicle homicide, ICE officials<\/a> said they “encountered Mr. Mejia just once,” but they did not file a detainer.<\/p>\n

Fox News\u2019 Louis Casiano contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/illegal-immigrant-who-fled-us-after-killing-sarah-root-sentenced-20-years-behind-bars <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Honduran illegal immigrant who fled the United States after killing an Iowa woman in 2016 while driving drunk in Nebraska has been sentenced to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-119528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIllegal immigrant who fled US after killing Sarah Root sentenced to 20+ years behind bars - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/illegal-immigrant-who-fled-us-after-killing-sarah-root-sentenced-to-20-years-behind-bars-119528\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Illegal immigrant who fled US after killing Sarah Root sentenced to 20+ years behind bars - 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