News Releases and Statements

Habtom Merhay, 47, was indicted in the District of Columbia in 2012. Merhay has been in the custody of Moroccan authorities pending extradition since his arrest in Marrakech, Morocco, in August 2013.

Keith Farnham, 66, of Elgin, Ill., allegedly possessed two videos depicting child pornography on a computer that was seized from his state office in Elgin in March.

Before deploying to their respective territories, field representatives completed an eight-week training course in Washington, D.C., where they learned about federal laws and regulations and the school certification process.

Jorge Luis "Daniel" Mendez, 38, a Dominican national formerly of San Juan, Puerto Rico, was sentenced to 75 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was further ordered to forfeit $422,793 in illegal proceeds by U.S. District Judge Juan M. Pérez-Giménez, District of Puerto Rico.

According to the indictments, each of the defendants had contact, via the Internet, with Minor #1 and enticed Minor #1 to engage in sexual conduct and transmit it over the Internet.

HSI special agents arrested Benerado Mercado-Rivera, of Humacao, immediately after he showed up at Las Catalinas Mall in Caguas where he was supposed to meet what he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.

Alan Gregory Ender, 58, was also ordered to serve a life term of supervised release and to comply with Sex Offender Registration and Notification by Chief U.S. District Judge Anne C. Conway. He pleaded guilty to the charges Nov. 14, 2013.

Manuel Rendon-Lucas, 19, was sentenced Friday by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack. Judge Jack sentenced the teenager to 200 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Reynaldo Estrada, 50, of Brookhaven, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit identity theft, aggravated identity theft and aiding and abetting the use of a false social security number.

David Michael Wilson, 31, of Delano, pleaded not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer K. Thurston to one count of receiving or distributing images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

James J. Jenkins Jr., 20, of Liberty, was wanted for selling heroin to an undercover deputy sheriff when SCSO deputies and HSI agents identified him as a passenger in a car that was stopped in Liberty. At the time of his arrest, Jenkins had 173 bags of heroin stuffed in his underwear.

Eduardo Aponte, 33, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 180 months in prison following his conviction. His girlfriend, Kathleen Diaz, 28, also of Philadelphia, was sentenced to two years probation.

More than six decades after being removed during the Korean War, nine royal seals of the Korean Empire and Joseon Dynasty were repatriated Friday to Seoul, South Korea, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), coinciding with U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to that nation.

Slomp was charged with distributing worldwide about 104 kilograms (229 pounds) of an illegal drug known as MDMA; 566,000 Ecstasy pills containing MDMA; four kilograms (nine pounds) of cocaine; three kilograms (seven pounds) of Benzodiazepine; and substantial quantities of amphetamine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and marijuana.

Albert Buck Hibbert, 43, was arrested April 3 after he gave consent to HSI special agents to search his home and personal computers. A forensic preview of his laptop computer revealed images of children between 3 and 10 years old being sexually exploited.

George Tsarik, 30, a citizen of Belarus who was residing in West Palm Beach, Fla., and convicted in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for conspiracy to illegally export defense articles, was removed.

Lance Robert Fries, 43, was sentenced Wednesday to 297 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps. In addition to the prison term, Fries will be subject to lifetime supervised release with stringent conditions, including registration as a sex offender.

The money was seized in February 2014 from the sale of a house located in Newport Beach, Calif., which President Chun's son, Chun Jae Yong, had purchased in 2005 with proceeds allegedly traceable to his father's corruption.

Hector Manuel Carreon, 47, was convicted earlier this year in state court of 16 counts of conducting lewd acts with children under the age of 14. The case was prosecuted by the San Diego County District Attorney's Office.

The investigation into Koyode Lawrence, aka 'Papa,' 45, of Lagos, Nigeria began in February 2001 following the arrests of two men at Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) who attempted to internally smuggle 1,498 grams of heroin into the United States from Nigeria.

Nunez had been involved in an organization that had crossed marijuana into the United States from Mexico.

Erik E. Cryderman, 47, of Bismarck, was sentenced to the mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison on a charge of possessing material involving the sexual exploitation of minors. Cryderman had previously pleaded guilty to the charge Jan. 21.

Hermes Franca De Barros, aka Hermes Franca Barros, 39, formerly of Clackamas County, Ore., was removed by commercial airliner from the U.S. under ERO officer escort.

Marcelo Alves-Ferreira, 39, is charged with homicide in a warrant issued in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The warrant alleges Alves was responsible for the May 22, 2005, murder of Jhonatan Alves Braganca in Sao Jose de Safira.