A Belizean national who currently is serving a nine-year sentence in a California prison for a domestic violence-related conviction was charged on Jan. 7 with one felony count of illegal re-entry into the United States following deportation.

Akeem Garnett, 37, also known as Akeen Dean Garnett and Emerson Edmund Hewitt, was named in a one-count federal grand jury indictment that alleges he illegally re-entered the United States. Garnett’s most recent residence was in Beverly Hills.

According to the indictment, Garnett was deported from the United States on Sept. 1, 2016, and Nov. 16, 2017. He was found by authorities in Los Angeles County on April 9, 2019.

Garnett’s criminal history includes convictions for burglary and domestic battery. Currently, Garnett is incarcerated after being convicted last July of corporal injury on a spouse, with an enhancement for personally causing great bodily injury. He is expected to be brought to federal court in Los Angeles to face the federal illegal re-entry charge in the coming months. Garnett faces a additional 10 years in federal prison if convicted.