Bahamas man convicted in Florida of illegal reentry after five prior deportations

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A federal jury in Tallahassee found Zeno Higgs, a 51-year-old man from the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, guilty of illegally reentering the United States after being deported five times.

The verdict followed a single-day jury trial in Tallahassee, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida. John P. Heekin, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the guilty verdict.

“Our nation’s immigration laws are not mere suggestions that this criminal illegal alien could disregard, but that is exactly how he viewed them as evidenced by his five prior deportations and his illegal reentry into our country yet again,” Heekin said. “Thanks to this aggressive prosecution by my office that delivered a swift guilty verdict by a jury, we will hold this criminal illegal alien accountable for his brazen criminality before kicking him out of our country once and for all.”

Court records and trial testimony said Tallahassee police officers responded on Sept. 11, 2024, to a reported theft and assault of a wheelchair-bound individual at a local convenience store. Officers contacted a suspect who was identified as an illegal alien who had previously been deported from the United States five times.

After Higgs’ arrest, officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations reviewed his immigration history, which documented deportations on July 9, 2014; Nov. 6, 2015; June 14, 2016; Feb. 15, 2018; and April 18, 2024, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Trial testimony also said Higgs was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in 2017 of Bringing Aliens into the United States and in 2022 for Illegal Re-entry into the United States. He was also convicted in Broward County Circuit Court in 2023 of Felony Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer.

The case was jointly investigated by the Tallahassee Police Department and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason R. Coody.

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 10, 2026, at 11 a.m. at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before Senior U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle.

The U.S. attorney’s office said the case is part of Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative.