News Releases and Statements

Following a lead from the USMS, Deputy U.S. Marshals and officers from ICE ERO Houston – Fugitive Operations Team located and arrested Efren Cruz-Nunez, a citizen of Honduras who entered the United States in 1998.

Hansel German, 25, of Boston and Andy Pena, 21, of Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts, were sentenced to eight years for aiding and abetting the transportation of a minor in interstate commerce for prostitution, and one count of possessing heroin with the intent to distribute. Enoc Ayuso, 26, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, was also sentenced to five years in federal prison for his role in the trafficking conspiracy. Rafael Reyes, 22, of Boston, has pleaded guilty to his involvement and will be sentenced next week in United States District Court.

According to the indictment, the defendants conspired to fraudulently buy firearms and ammunition in the United States, also known as straw purchases. They then attempted to smuggle the items into Mexico.

Michael Bluhm, 34, of Show Low, was also sentenced March 14 to 3 ½ years in prison for attempted manufacture of a narcotic drug. According to the HSI special agents who executed the state search and arrest warrants in the case, Bluhm was in possession of tens of thousands of graphic and disturbing images of child pornography, which he was sharing via a peer-to-peer website.

According to evidence presented in open court, as well as arguments outlined in a public filing, in the course of online chats that occurred between Brandi Leonard, 18, and Richard Hennis, 40, spanning about two months, Leonard told Hennis that she had sexually abused an infant.

According to the criminal complaint, on or about March 16, HSI San Juan received information from the Puerto Rico DOE’s Legal Division in Humacao regarding Yaria Tanies Cotto-Flores, 26, of San Lorenzo.

According to the terms of the plea agreement, Robert Steven Elliott II, 32, of Deming, New Mexico, will be sentenced to between 20 and 45 years in federal prison, which will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. The plea agreement also indicates that Elliott has agreed to pay $210,012 in restitution to the child he victimized.

Shane Ryan Yoder, 37, of Fairfield, California, was arrested by HSI special agents after arriving at the Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport from California.

HSI special agents arrested without incident Jose Antonio Landin-Ortiz, 26, and Jose Alfredo Ortiz-Vega, 45, both from Mexico and living illegally in the United States. On March 23, a U.S. magistrate judge charged both men with human smuggling.

Paul Alan Shapiro, 69, of Montrose, was originally indicted April 22, 2015, on charges relating to his travel to Thailand and illicit sexual conduct with minor boys. According to the indictment, in February 2010, Shapiro traveled from Los Angeles to Thailand, where he paid minors as young as 14 small amounts of local currency to engage in various sex acts with him.

Two of the defendants identified during the investigation, Marcia Manuela Duarte-Medina and her mother Eva Duarte De Medina, were arrested in Nogales, Arizona, Tuesday night. Two additional defendants, Joel Duarte Medina and Manuel Gallegos Jimenez, were taken into custody Wednesday morning in Calexico.

Dewayne William Barth II, 30, of Fargo, was sentenced to serve the statutory maximum of 30 years in prison on one count each of producing, possessing, and receiving and distributing child pornography.

Edgar Solis, 29, was found guilty of attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. He and his co-defendant, Daniel Solis-Castillo, 33, also an illegal alien from Mexico, were indicted in December 2013, and charged with cocaine trafficking.

Robert Jerome Bond, 47, of Gardiner, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for theft of public money and an additional two years for aggravated identity theft.

Christopher Castelluzzo, 31, of Bayonne, New Jersey, was sentenced today to 240 months in prison. Luke Atwell, 34, of Hamilton, New Jersey, was sentenced yesterday to 220 months in prison.

Marco Antonio Lam Peralta, 42, of South Londonderry, Vermont was arrested Tuesday based upon an arrest warrant for conspiracy to distribute heroin.

Abraham Jose Shiera Bastidas (Shiera), 52, of Coral Gables, Florida, pleaded guilty March 22 in federal court before U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and commit wire fraud, and one count of violating the FCPA.

IPR Center leadership and representatives from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and FBI held a roundtable discussion last month with staff from the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG), a joint advertising industry initiative to fight crime in the digital ad supply chain, to review priorities, set common goals and objectives and determine opportunities for successful collaboration.

Andre Hugh Saunders, 35, aka David Turner, has been in custody since his arrest in October 2015 in New York on a criminal complaint.

Jeffrey Scott Patterson, 52, pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court. In his plea agreement and during his Monday court appearance, Patterson admitted that, over the course of approximately eight years, he used two websites to advertise and sell counterfeit Adobe software at prices below retail.

ICE's top 5 news stories for the week ending March 18, 2016

The following five defendants pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the Controlled Substances Act: Dien Le was sentenced March 9, 2016, to 28 months in federal prison, to be followed by two years’ supervised release, and fined $2,000; Kenneth Barnes was sentenced Feb. 25, to 18 months in federal prison, to be followed by two years’ supervised release, and fined $1,000; Ricky Pim was sentenced Jan. 7 to 48 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years’ supervised release, and fined $6,000; Ponlue Pim was sentenced Oct. 28, 2015, to 44 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years’ supervised release, and fined $5,000; and Pirun Pim was sentenced Oct. 21, 2015, to 40 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years’ supervised release, and fined $3,500.

Timothy Howell, 49, Mountrail County, North Dakota, was sentenced to serve 151 months in prison on one count of possession of materials involving the sexual exploiting minors.

The two defendants, Alfonso Rodriguez-Vazquez and Nestor Fabian Sinaloa-Sinaloa, were first charged by criminal complaint Aug. 8, 2015. They were then indicted by a federal grand jury Sept. 28.

Juan Ramon Gonzalez-Hernandez, 22, was flown to El Salvador March 18 and turned over to Salvadoran officials.