News Releases and Statements

HSI special agents executed the arrest of Gabriel Maldonado-Hernandez, 19, of Parcelas Navas, Arecibo, without incident.

U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Jason Michael Ehret, 44, an active-duty officer serving as an aviation flight instructor, was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Janis Graham.  Ehret was further ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.  He must also serve the rest of his life on supervised release, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet.

According to the testimony at his three-week trial, from May 2014 through March 17, 2016, Justin Larson, age 30, conspired to distribute acetyl fentanyl, and furanyl fentanyl, a controlled substance analogue. The evidence showed that on May 9, 2014, Larson distributed acetyl fentanyl to an individual, resulting in the death of that individual.

David Brian Henrichsen, 51, a former police officer in Colorado Springs, Colorado, pleaded guilty to one count of computer crime to commit theft, and was fined $7,500 by Adams County District Judge Ted Tow for his role in the criminal enterprise.

In addition to his 15-year prison sentence, David Milner, 29, was also ordered to be placed on supervised release for five years after completing his prison term.

On May 6, 2015, a federal grand jury returned an Indictment charging Brandon Tyler Hill, 31, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Rhiannon Carnahan, of Woodland Park, Colorado, with child pornography related charges.  Prior to the indictment, Hill and Carnahan were charged via Criminal Complaints.

Travis L. Spradlin, 37, first caught the attention of HSI special agents in September 2015 when a Yahoo account linked to his residence was used to send and receive child pornography. Agents also determined an individual in the same Boise residence had accessed a Russian photo-sharing website to obtain child pornography.

Olga Sandra Murra, 64, was sentenced to 72 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a total of $795,000 in restitution to her two victims.  Murra has been in federal custody since her conviction in August 2016 on two counts of forced labor and two counts of harboring illegal aliens. 

The complaint charges the following individuals with possession with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, one kilogram or more of heroin: Onel Arana-Gervacio; Modesto Barett-Medina; Erison Peralta; Luz Cruz; Carol Amparo.

The San Juan TECC is the first federal partnership of its kind in Puerto Rico and tenth in the nation to combat fraudulent foreign trade. The center will identify, inspect and investigate foreign trade suspected of being fraudulently introduced into Puerto Rico.

This year marks the seventh anniversary of January as National Slavery and Trafficking Prevention month. ICE participates in a variety of human trafficking awareness events in January and throughout the year.

Gina Kramer, a criminal justice senior, and Madeline MacLean, a junior studying criminal justice and Arabic, will work with special agents, task-force officers and intelligence research specialists with the HSI Detroit Intelligence Group.

Prior to his capture in 2015, Martin Briand, 37, spent more than six years on the run from law enforcement. He was originally identified by border agents in the U.S. and Canada in 2009 as a person of interest who was extensively involved in smuggling cocaine into Canada.

Guzman Loera, 59, will be arraigned on a 17-count superseding indictment on Jan. 20, before U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein in federal court in Brooklyn.  The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan.  Following his extradition to the United States on related charges filed in the Western District of Texas and Southern District of California, the Mexican government approved a request by the United States to proceed with prosecution on the charges filed in the Eastern District of New York on May 11, 2016.

Uryan Frymire, 37, of Ohio, was charged with possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.

Steven Wayne Robinson, 40, of Daisetta, Texas, was sentenced Jan. 19 to 420 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone for two counts of producing child pornography. He pleaded guilty Sept. 1, 2016.

Jesus Quiroz, 36, was arrested Sept. 9 on a criminal complaint charging him with possessing more than 72 kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute in Hidalgo County, New Mexico. 

Sherrie Householder, 59, of Nixa, Missouri, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to two years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Householder to pay $8,866,069 in restitution. Wang “Frank” Luo, a Chinese citizen, owned Flash Tech, while Householder managed the company’s activities in the United States.

Tayabi Fazal Hussain, 59, was convicted in June 2016, for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana. He was charged with conspiracy to export sensitive U.S. technologies, including air filters, optical lenses, telescope equipment, mobile generators and mold detectors to Iran, without the requisite license from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Roberto Clemente Martinez-Guerrero, 44, is accused of a 2002 homicide that occurred in the State of Jalisco, Mexico.  Martinez-Guerrero was escorted by ICE officers to the U.S.-Mexico border at Laredo, Texas, and transferred to Mexican authorities Jan. 18.

The timber was seized Dec. 20, 2015 by HSI at the Port of Houston, Texas for violation of the Lacey Act and customs law. It was destroyed in accordance with a settlement agreement reached by the United States and the importer of the timber, Oregon-based Popp Forest Products Inc.

Jeremy Gregory, 36, befriended the victims’ father while serving as a youth baseball umpire and began taking the two boys, then 13 and 11 years old, to baseball games and amusement parks.

Paul Charles Wilkins, 70, of Littleport in East Cambridgeshire, England, a dual United States-United Kingdom citizen, was sentenced Wednesday morning by U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee.

Chuckie Mitchell, 30, who has an extensive criminal history including prior convictions for assault, domestic violence, felony drug trafficking, armed robbery and drug possession, was taken into custody on a probable cause.

Jose Diego Gonzales, 30, of Fort Worth, Texas, has been in custody since his arrest in July 2016 in Fort Worth.