News Releases and Statements

Andrew Harrison Fowler, 25, of Murrieta, a convicted sex offender who is on parole for having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, has been charged in federal court for allegedly distributing child pornography over the Internet.

Kenneth Kapikian, 57, of Wayne, Pennsylvania, and Dennis Gagliardi, 60, of Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, were each charged with seven counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Martin Margarito-Casimiro, 28, of Camargo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, pleaded guilty to kidnapping on May 27.

Dozens of ERO officers participated in the operation from May 17 to 21 that focused on the arrests of public safety threats. Those arrested are from all over the world and have a wide-array of criminal convictions – many have committed multiple offenses.

Miguel Torres, 45, of Waterbury, Connecticut, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport for enticing a minor. According to court documents and statements made in court, Torres met a minor female at the church they both attended.

Derrick Gossett, 34, from Humble, Texas, was sentenced May 26 by U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes to 180 months in federal prison, which is to be followed by 180 months of supervised release. Gossett must also register as a sex offender. At the time of the offense, he was a music teacher at Anderson Elementary School in the Spring ISD. Gossett pleaded guilty to producing child pornography Aug. 4, 2014.

Manuel Fernandez, 34, of Wayne, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty to one count of distributing images of child pornography over the Internet.

Alejandro Valencia, 32, Eric Octavio Rangel-Ortega, 33, and Alfredo Avitia, 34, all from Mexico residing in Kansas City, Missouri, and Juan Rodriguez-Ponce, 62, and his son, Juan Carlos Rodriguez-Maynez, 36, both from Mexico, were sentenced to varying federal prison terms and ordered to forfeit proceeds from their illegal drug trafficking.

HSI special agents arrested Wally Irizarry Sisco, 60, of Ponce, for transporting an 11-year-old minor to a local motel in Juana Diaz for sex. In a similar, but separate, case, José E. Montalvo-Febus, 30, of Guayama, was arrested for illegally transporting a 13-year-old, now 17, to a secluded area and to local motels to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Gamaliel Cortez-Mendoza, 43, of Laredo, pleaded guilty May 26 to possessing child pornography and failing to register as a sex offender. Cortez-Mendoza was arrested in January following an investigation by the Laredo Child Exploitation Task Force.

Oscar Ramirez Cuc, 22, was transferred to the custody of Interpol officers immediately following his arrival in Guatemala.

Carlos Cortez-Hernandez, aka Jesus Agaton-Martinez, 34, was removed to Mexico May 21 and turned over to the custody of the Mexican Attorney General’s Office.

Gary Michael Feroglia, 56, a previously convicted sexual predator in the United States, was also convicted in Mexico for possessing a firearm created solely for use by Mexican armed forces.

Pedro Dombele, who had been living in the U.S. lawfully, was criminally arrested in Westborough, Mass. in April 2006 for assault and battery and later convicted.

Hui Jin Chen was arrested Sept. 2, 2014, in Toronto by officers from the Toronto Police Department’s Fugitive Task Force.

HSI San Diego Special Agent William Thompson was awarded The Attorney General’s Special Commendation which recognizes an ICAC task force or affiliate agency for significant investigative contributions. HSI Norfolk Special Agent Paul Wolpert received the Mission Children’s Child Protection Award which honors a law enforcement officer who made a significant investigative contribution to protect children from abuse or victimization.

On May 13, seven employees from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) Detroit field office were among 500 people from 23 different organizations recognized at the Detroit’s Federal Executive Board’s 38th annual Federal Employee Recognition Ceremony.

Through the collaborative relationship between the United States and Brazil, ICE and the DPF have made important law enforcement strides.

ERO’s recruits are immersed in real-life scenarios. They diligently search for items well hidden in homes, serve warrants to belligerent and uncooperative actors, find suspects hiding in vehicles, are peppered with every question imaginable as they would be in court and engage in dynamic action and combat shooting.

Victor Jerome Reza, 54, was also ordered to be placed on supervised release for 10 years after he completes his prison term, register as a sex offender, and pay a $1,000 fine. U.S. District Judge Philip R. Martinez also ordered Reza surrender to federal authorities before July 20 to begin serving his prison term.

Jose de Jesus Deniz-Sahagun, 31, was transferred to ICE custody May 18 following his arrest three days earlier by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the port of entry in Douglas.

Linda Avila, of Frankford, Delaware pleaded guilty Nov 17.

David Alberto Canales, 47, pleaded guilty to these charges in August 2014 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Upon completion of his prison term, Canales will be removed from the United States.

Twenty-two of the 37 MS-13 members indicted Wednesday also face other felony charges to include murder, attempted murder, assault and firearms violations. HSI and its law enforcement partners arrested 16 of the indicted gang members early Wednesday morning during a coordinated operation. Five indicted suspects remain at large; another 16 suspects were already in custody on various state charges.