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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 more than 20 years in prison.
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.
Mejia, who was living in the U.S. illegally, was driving drunk when he crashed into 21-year-old Sarah Root’s vehicle at a stoplight in Omaha, Nebraska, in January 2016. Root, an Iowa native, later died at a hospital.
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.
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Eswin Mejia sits in custody after being extradited from Honduras to the United States to face charges in the 2016 drunken-driving death of Iowa woman Sarah Root. (Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem)
At the time of his arrest, ICE said that Mejia was not an “enforcement priority.”
In March 2025, under the Trump administration, the Trump Administration announced the extradition of Sarah’s killer from Honduras to the United States to face justice once and for all.
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.
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Homeland Security Investigations agents are pictured in Honduras during the extradition of Eswin Mejia to the United States last year. (Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem)
“The criminal illegal alien who stole Sarah Root’s life was just convicted to 21 years. Nothing will bring her back, but I am glad to see some justice for Sarah’s family,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said.
“I want to thank Homeland Security Investigations and our interagency law enforcement partners for extraditing Sarah’s 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.”
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Sarah’s Law was introduced in the United States Congress. It was eventually added as an amendment to the Laken Riley Act.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem hailed the conviction. (Getty Images/Alex Brandon)
“Today, an illegal immigrant who murdered young Iowan Sarah Root faced justice,” Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, wrote on X. “After her killer escaped the consequences of his crime for too long, the Root family can finally have closure.
The senator thanked President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Noem “for making today possible.”
“While nothing can bring Sarah back, my Sarah’s Law will ensure no other family will have to endure what the Roots have,” Ernst added.
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.
Mejia was transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which then sent him to Omaha in 2014 to live with his brother.
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After his January 2016 arrest for motor vehicle homicide, ICE officials said they “encountered Mr. Mejia just once,” but they did not file a detainer.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.