News Releases and Statements

Christmas came early this year for Kyle Cox, a terminally ill teenager from El Paso, Texas who has always dreamed of becoming a law enforcement agent. On Nov. 3, agents from the ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office in El Paso made that wish come true.

In or about August 2010, Lisandro Ortiz-Ramos, of San Juan, induced a female minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct, including the lascivious exhibition of the genital areas, for the production of still images using a digital camera and computer which had been mailed, shipped, or transported in interstate foreign commerce.

"ICE mourns the loss of Secretary Francisco Blake Mora and our Mexican law enforcement colleagues who passed away in this tragic helicopter crash."

Saidou A. Dia, 46, of St. Louis, was sentenced Nov. 10 in the Eastern District of Missouri by U.S. District Judge Jean C. Hamilton. Dia pleaded guilty in August to one felony count of copyright infringement and one felony count of failure to register as a sex offender.

Louis E. Gray, 40, has been in custody since his July 6 arrest when law enforcement executed a search warrant at his Fort Worth residence.

The Harrison County Sheriff's Department was recognized by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with the Partnership for Public Safety Award for 2011. Under Sheriff Melvin Brisolara, the department has provided dedicated manpower and assistance to the ICE HSI Gulf Coast Border Enforcement Security Task Force.

Seven defendants have been indicted on federal criminal charges for their alleged role in a central California firearms trafficking ring suspected of smuggling several hundred guns to Mexico over a three-year period.

Aaron P. Winchester, 36, of Wildwood, faces a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison, up to a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.

A San Juan resident, Zairo Ramos, was found guilty in federal court Tuesday of production of child pornography following an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). From May through June 2010, Ramos induced a female minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing still and video images...

A federal jury found a Brazilian woman residing in Orlando guilty of alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling and worker visa fraud on Monday, following an investigation that began with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

"Nearly 400 businesses in the Boston-area have partnered with ICE by joining the agency's employment compliance program IMAGE, or ""ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers."" During fiscal year (FY) 2011, ICE reached 359 businesses in the Boston area with presentations about IMAGE."

Mohamad Mohamad of Cambridge, Mass., was arrested Wednesday and charged with importing and selling hundreds of thousands of packages of contraband cigarettes in Rhode Island following a five-state joint federal-state investigation involving U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Law enforcement agencies across the globe work tirelessly to end child exploitation, but they can't do it alone. They rely on assistance from private sector companies to successfully accomplish their mission.

A Georgia couple accused of harboring illegal aliens for commercial advantage and then laundering the proceeds was arrested Friday following an investigation by ICE's HSI, the FBI, the IRS' Criminal Investigations Division and the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.

Robert J. Fortier of Rogers, Ark., was sentenced to 25 years in prison for production of child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Rogers Police Department. The defendant used his cell phone to capture images of a minor posed in sexually explicit ways and in various stages of undress.

A Togo national, convicted of assault of a foreign official, was deported on Monday and turned over to Togolese law enforcement officials by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers.

The owners of Aquila Farms, LLC, were sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay fines totaling $234,000 for hiring illegal aliens and aiding and abetting each other to do so. The convictions of Johannes Martinus Verhaar and Anthonia Marjanne Verhaar were the result of an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations.

Two Mexican nationals and a resident of Laredo were sentenced on Tuesday to federal prison for conspiring to smuggle assault rifles into Mexico, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.

A Texas man was sentenced to six years and nine months in federal prison on Tuesday for possession with intent to distribute about 36 kilograms (79 pounds) of cocaine.

A Canadian woman who was arrested at the U.S.-Canada border, and who pleaded guilty to drug and firearm violations, was sentenced Friday to 18 months in federal prison.

Robert Davis Williams, 45, pleaded guilty on March 14.

A Knoxville general contractor partnering with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has become the first Tennessee business to join the ICE IMAGE program, which is aimed at reducing fraud and the hiring of illegal workers.

David B. Twitty, 64, of Hyattsville, Md., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus. Judge Titus also ordered that upon his release from prison, Twitty must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

A citizen of El Salvador, who once waded the Rio Grande to illegally re-enter the United States, was sentenced Friday to 15 months in federal prison for illegal re-entry in a case investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).