Luis Morocho-Minga has spent about half his life in the United States after growing up in Ecuador.

He has been described as a “great father and provider” by his ex-wife and was considered his employer’s “biggest asset” during more than a decade of work at Joe’s Pizza in Fairview Heights, according to federal court records.

But Morocho-Minga’s roughly 20-year life in the Metro East was upended after a weapon charge lodged against him in December in St. Clair County led to a federal firearm possession charge in February, as part of President Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

On Wednesday, Morocho-Minga, 42, appeared in federal court in East St. Louis, where U.S. District Judge David W. Dugan sentenced him to 10 months in prison on a charge of illegal alien in possession of

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