A Mexican man pleaded not guilty to illegal reentry and failure to register as a sex offender charges in Chattanooga’s federal court Tuesday afternoon.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents encountered Jorge Gonzalez-Lopez around April 7, according to a federal complaint. Court records said he was previously removed from the U.S. around May 7, 2010, following an Oklahoma rape conviction involving a 12-year-old victim in 2009.
On Tuesday, Jorge Gonzalez-Lopez sat cuffed in federal court for his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Susan K. Lee. He wore a grayish-blue polo shirt, eyeglasses and a pair of headphones that allowed him to listen through an interpreter.
No one, besides federal and court personnel and one reporter, attended the hearing. If convicted, Gonzalez-Lopez would likely be removed from the country, federal prosecutor Frank Clark said in court.