News Releases and Statements

Valerian Chiochiu, aka “Onassis,” “Flagler,” “Socrate,” and “Eclessiastes,” 30, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge James C. Mahan in the District of Nevada. Chiochiu is a national of the Republic of Moldova, but resided in the United States during the period of the conspiracy. His plea came just over a month after the co-founder and administrator of Infraud, Sergey Medvedev of Russia, separately pleaded guilty June 26. Sentencing for Chiochiu has been scheduled for Dec. 11.

Dishay Henderson, 36, was sentenced last week following a January jury verdict finding him guilty of enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution and two counts of sex trafficking of a minor.

Sanzhar Ordaliyev, a citizen and national of Kazakhstan, was arrested by officers with ERO Los Angeles’ Fugitive Operations Fugitive Alien Removal team pursuant to a targeted enforcement operation.

Fifteen people were arrested today throughout the Puget Sound region and in California following an 18-month investigation of a drug-trafficking organization tied to the CJNG cartel in Mexico, announced ICE's HSI acting Special Agent in Charge Eben Roberts and U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran.

Concepcion Malinek, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of labor trafficking. The charge is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.

According to court documents, in 2013 Todd Joseph Simmerman, 30, Titusville, pleaded guilty to traveling to meet a child to engage in unlawful sexual conduct, after using a computer to lure a child, in violation of Florida law.

HSI launched Operation Stolen Promise in April 2020 to protect the Homeland from the increasing and evolving threat posed by COVID-19-related fraud and criminal activity.

In March 2019, HSI Orlando received information the GIII would likely be sold and then used to transport illegal drugs. In April 2019, HSI Orlando began monitoring the aircraft.

Angelica Nohemi Reyes-Vasquez, 28, from Mexico, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jason K. Pulliam, Western District of Texas to 70 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Since she is not a U.S. citizen, she is expected to face deportation proceedings following her incarceration. On Jan. 21, 2020, she pleaded guilty to one count of importation of heroin.

Noel Quintana-Carbajal, 47, a Mexican national living illegally in the United States, was sentenced to serve 12 months and 1 day in federal prison. Quintana-Carbajal will be removed from the U.S. at the conclusion of his prison sentence. 

According to United States Attorney Office, Brett Lamar Heinbach, 38, between March 8, 2016 and April 9, 2016, conspired with other individuals to distribute methamphetamine throughout Schuylkill County. During the conspiracy, Heinbach possessed multiple firearms, one of which had an obliterated serial number.

Gevorg Gasparyan, 38, was arrested July 23, 2020, by officers with ERO Los Angeles Fugitive Operations assigned to Fugitive Alien Removal (FAR) team pursuant to a targeted enforcement operation in North Hollywood, California; Gasparyan is wanted for swindling committed in particularly large amount, forgery, sale or use of forged documents, and abuse of authority by the employee of commercial or other organizations.

Mohamad Yassin Alcharihi, 53, was named in an indictment that charges him with one count of entry of goods into the United States falsely classified as to quality and value.

Nonimmigrant students and schools certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) should abide by SEVP guidance originally issued in March 2020. The guidance enables schools and students to engage in distance learning in excess of regulatory limits due to the public health emergency generated by COVID-19. The March 2020 guidance applies to nonimmigrant students who were actively enrolled at a U.S. school on March 9 and are otherwise complying with the terms of their nonimmigrant status, whether from inside the U.S. or abroad. SEVP will not issue a temporary final rule impacting nonimmigrant students for the fall school term.

According to the indictment, between October 2015 and March 2019, Richard Earl Jenkins, Jr., 43, Jacksonville, produced child pornography. If convicted, Jenkins faces a minimum mandatory term of 15 years, and up to 30 years, in federal prison for each count.

David Alava-Valdivia, 66, is a citizen of Peru and illegally present in the United States. He was arrested near his home Aug. 29, 2019 in Evanston, Wyoming.

Rene Camacho, a 47-year-old U.S. citizen residing in Houston, was sentenced July 23 in the Southern District of Texas to three years in federal prison to be immediately followed by two years of supervised release for conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens.

Darcy Gearoid McMenamin, an Irish national and member of the Irish Republican Army organization, was removed after an immigration judge in Boston denied his request to remain in the U.S. June 3. McMenamin has a history of terrorism-related crime in Ireland, to include a conviction for participation in the bombing of a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) police station near Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, in 1993, for which he received a sentence of eight years in prison in Northern Ireland.

CWD, LLC, which operates under the name Centric Parts, a Delaware corporation headquartered in Carson, and its affiliates have agreed to pay $8 million to the United States to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act and the Tariff Act of 1930 by knowingly underpaying customs duties owed to the United States on imported brake pads.

Samuel Aniukwu, 46, a Nigerian national residing in Romeoville, Illinois; Anthony Emeka Ibekie, 55, a Nigerian national residing in Oswego, Illinois; and, Jennifer Gosha, 48, a U.S. citizen residing in Oak Park, Illinois were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Maikel Jose Moreno Perez, 54, current Chief Justice of the Venezuelan Supreme Court, was charged via a criminal complaint in the Southern District of Florida with conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering in connection with the alleged corrupt receipt or intended receipt of tens of millions of dollars and bribes to illegally fix dozens of civil and criminal cases in Venezuela.