News Releases and Statements

Roberto Benavides, 47, was arrested at his residence in the 14000 block of Warren Belin Drive in Horizon City, Texas. He was a target of an HSI El Paso investigation for more than a year.

Mohamad Milon Hossain, 41, was sentenced Sept. 28 in federal court to 46 months in federal prison. He pleaded guilty March 5.

Tourism is a huge industry in Scottsdale. Special events attract millions of visitors every year. Unfortunately, bad actors are also drawn to popular destinations to traffic victims. Combating the issue requires the involvement of the entire community, which is why the City of Scottsdale is working with HSI and their partners to offer this training to all employees.

Seven men face felony charges following an undercover operation aimed at addressing human trafficking in Middle Tennessee.

Joseph Winslow, 54, from Fort Meade, Florida, also was ordered to serve three years supervised release after completing his sentence. Winslow pleaded guilty March 5.

Yun Zheng, a.k.a. Wendy, 50, and Yan Qui Wu, a.k.a. Jason, 48, both of Alexandria, Kentucky, were charged with four counts of concealing, harboring, or shielding a person for commercial and private financial gain, and one count of conspiracy to conceal, harbor, or shield persons for commercial and private financial gain.

Santos DeLeon-Cardenas, 35, from Brownsville was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. His sentence is to be immediately followed by three years supervised release. De Leon-Cardenas pleaded guilty April 29. 

Jose Luis Ramos Jr., 46, was sentenced Sept. 7 to 80 months in federal prison. His sentence is to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.

Issac Livan Martinez, 23 and Gina Alexandria Guzman, 26, both from San Juan, Texas were charged with conspiracy and harboring noncitizens at a hotel in Pharr, Texas.

These smuggling attempts along the coastline of Palos Verdes, Long Beach, San Pedro, Malibu, Newport Beach, and the first-ever panga landing in Santa Catalina Island, resulted in the apprehension of 90 undocumented individuals. While most were adult males of diverse nationalities, females and teenagers were also among those apprehended.

Special agents with ICE's HSI joined the East Valley Human Trafficking Taskforce (EVHTTF) on a two-day “Buyer Reduction” or sting operation, which resulted in 18 arrests.

Christopher Faust, 32, from Sacramento, California, was convicted Aug. 11, in U.S. federal court after a jury deliberated fewer than four hours.

ICE announced today the first Continued Presence (CP) resource guide to assist federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies nationwide with their human trafficking investigations and prosecutions.

Michelle Sunshine Betters, 44, of Tucson, Arizona, was previously indicted on three counts by a federal grand jury. The court ordered Betters detained pending trial, which is scheduled for Sept. 8.

Marc Anthony Bane, 32, from Porter, Texas and Tara Renee Dillon, 33, from Conroe, Texas appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Dos Santos who charged the couple for their role in human smuggling.

A 43-year-old resident of Rosharon is set to make an appearance in Laredo federal court on allegations he attempted to smuggle dozens of undocumented non-citizens, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.

As a result of an investigation by HSI Los Angeles, Jerome Terry Jr., 45, of Chicago, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking. In his plea agreement, Terry agreed to a prison sentence of between seven and 15 years in federal prison.

Beginning on July 8, 2021, the operation focused on identifying and recovering potential human trafficking victims as well as identifying those seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with minors. Law enforcement placed several decoy advertisements on websites known to be linked to prostitution and commercial sex cases.

Christian Alexander Augustus, 25, aka “Sir Ceeco,” pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of a minor in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution and criminal sexual activity, the result of an investigation by HSI Los Angeles and the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force - which in addition to HSI, includes local law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Attorney Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

Brodrick Keith Rhodes, 32, was sentenced July 8 in federal court to 50 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. During sentencing, the judge noted that had transported an exceptionally high number of noncitizens in his trailer.

Clarence Chambers, aka Chris, 29, is expected to appear today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Bray. Also charged are Javon Opoku, aka Glizzy, 20; Damarquis McGee, aka Lil Blue, 23; and Andres Portillo, aka Andro, 20. Portillo is set for an initial appearance on July 1 at 2 p.m., while McGee and Opoku are set for their initial appearances on July 6 at 10 a.m.

The results of the operation were announced by Homeland Security Investigations Deputy Special Agent in Charge, Kansas City, James Wright. He was joined by Heartland Anti-Trafficking Rescue Taskforce partners from across the region in making the announcement.

Emmanuel Oppongagyare, 20, and Ralph Gregory Saint-Joie, 18, were charged with human smuggling. Saint-Joie is an active duty member of the U.S. Army, while Oppongagyare is a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard. Both men are stationed at Fort Hood.

On June 10, HSI special agents arrested Manuel de Jesus Ochoa-Vasquez, 38; Carlos Barron-Arredondo, 46; Fabiola Flores-Galves, 46; Isaac Gonzalez-Matul, 34; Oscar Roberto Mejia-De Leon, 25; Saul Martinez-Mercado, 35; Argeo Mendoza-Galvez, 48; Sandra Cuevas-Montesinos, 45; Rolando Cota-Leyva 39; David Lopez-Laurean, 30; Ronaldo Garde-Cienfuegos, 40; and Juan Manuel Osorio-Felix, 36.

A two-day undercover operation involving HSI and multiple Tennessee local and state law enforcement agencies resulted in the arrest of six individuals accused of seeking illicit sex from minors.