A four-time felony drunken-driving offender who was released from custody after his latest conviction earlier this month was detained by federal immigration authorities Monday after investigators allegedly caught him driving in Riverhead, despite a court order barring him from getting behind the wheel.

Pablo Aguilar-Alvarez, 36, a Salvadoran national who was deported from the United States in 2024, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Monday after being arrested for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office.

The arrest came just 10 days after a Suffolk County jury convicted Aguilar-Alvarez of his fourth felony DWI within the past decade — a case in which prosecutors said he drove erratically through Southampton with a blood alcohol content of .17 percent, more than twice the legal limit.

Following the Aug. 7 verdict, prosecutors asked County Court Judge Bryan L. Browns to remand Aguilar-Alvarez to jail pending sentencing, citing his criminal history and concerns that he might flee Suffolk County. Browns denied the request and released Aguilar-Alvarez pending his Oct. 2 sentencing, with explicit orders that he not drive, as his license had already been revoked.

On Monday, Aug. 17, detective investigators from Tierney’s office allegedly observed Aguilar-Alvarez driving near Main Street in Riverhead and initiated a traffic stop. He was taken into custody for processing and issued a summons for second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, an unclassified misdemeanor, according to the district attorney’s office.

The District Attorney’s office contacted federal immigration authorities, who detained Aguilar-Alvarez as he was leaving following processing, prosecutors said. The DA’s office said it plans to obtain a writ to return him to Suffolk County for his sentencing and proceedings on the new charge.

“It is self-evident that given his history of multiple felony convictions, Pablo Aguilar-Alvarez is a clear and present danger to any Suffolk County citizen traveling on our roads,” Tierney said in a statement Tuesday. “He is a repeat felony drunk driver who does not belong behind the wheel.”

Tierney thanked his investigators for apprehending Aguilar-Alvarez and ICE “for their swift action in taking this individual into custody and working with my office to help protect Suffolk County residents.”

Aguilar-Alvarez’s latest DWI conviction stemmed from a Nov. 29, 2025 incident in Southampton.

According to prosecutors, Aguilar-Alvarez had been drinking before driving with his girlfriend to the USA Gas Station at Flanders Road and Longneck Boulevard around 1:30 a.m. His girlfriend went inside the store and asked a clerk to call 911. The couple then left in the vehicle.

Southampton Town police, who had been given a description and license plate number, located the vehicle and allegedly saw Aguilar-Alvarez run a stop sign and cross the double-yellow line on Longneck Boulevard. When officers stopped the car, prosecutors said Aguilar-Alvarez climbed out through the passenger side in an apparent attempt to conceal that he had been driving.

He failed field sobriety tests and later registered a .17 percent blood alcohol content, according to prosecutors.

A jury convicted him Aug. 7 of felony driving while intoxicated, felony driving while intoxicated per se and second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. He faces up to 2 1/3 to seven years in prison when sentenced.

Aguilar-Alvarez’s record includes an aggravated DWI felony conviction in 2022, two felony impaired-driving convictions in 2017 and a misdemeanor DWI conviction in 2012, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Records cited by prosecutors indicate he was deported from the United States on March 1, 2024, based on his prior felony convictions and subsequently returned to the country.

His arrest on Monday has not resulted in a DWI charge. The new allegation is that he drove without a valid license despite the court’s order prohibiting him from driving. Aguilar-Alvarez is being represented by a staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society, who was in court on Tuesday afternoon, according to her office, and could not immediately be reached for comment. The Sun left a message for her with her office, seeking comment on her client’s latest arrest.