Saul Castillo-Crespo, a 28-year-old Mexican national, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to illegally re-entering the United States after having been deported. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Castillo-Crespo, also known as “David Crespo,” had previously been convicted in August 2017 for kidnapping and sexually abusing an intoxicated stranger in Northwest Washington. He was sentenced to five years in prison following that conviction.
After serving his sentence, Castillo-Crespo was deported to Mexico in January 2023. Authorities report that he returned illegally to the United States in March 2025 and failed to register as a sex offender, which is required by law. Local law enforcement arrested him in June 2025.
U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly has scheduled sentencing for March 13, 2026.
“This individual sexually assaulted a victim and got deported a few years ago, just to sneak back into the U.S. illegally,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “I will not allow this brazen defiance of our immigration laws to continue, especially from criminals who commit the most heinous illegal acts.”
Court documents show that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) became aware of Castillo-Crespo’s arrest by Metropolitan Police Department officers on June 27, 2025, where he was charged with unlawful entry and destroying property under the alias “David Crespo.” On July 16, 2025, law enforcement fingerprinted him and the FBI confirmed his identity as Castillo-Crespo using fingerprint records maintained for previously deported individuals.
The original crime occurred on May 7, 2017 near Lafayette Square in downtown Washington when Castillo-Crespo encountered an extremely intoxicated woman who asked to go home. Instead of assisting her home, he took her by taxi to his apartment building on Seventh Street NW. When she refused to enter his apartment and reiterated her desire to go home, he carried her into a stairwell where he sexually assaulted her; this incident was captured on surveillance cameras inside the building.
The investigation involved both ICE and the Metropolitan Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Satter.